In this sermon, Trent Moody explores how God encourages His people to persevere through difficulties, using the Apostle Paul's experiences in Corinth as a case study. The sermon emphasizes three main ways God provides encouragement: through new friendships, the testimony of old friends, and His Word. Paul, initially discouraged and alone, finds providential friendships with Aquila and Priscilla, who share his tent-making trade. These relationships, born out of mutual hardship, exemplify how God uses others to uplift us. The arrival of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia brings further encouragement as they report the steadfast faith of the Thessalonian believers, prompting Paul to boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Christ. Despite opposition and blasphemy from the Jews, Paul remains resolute, declaring his intent to preach to the Gentiles. A vision from God reassures Paul, promising protection and affirming that many in the city are His people, encouraging Paul to continue his ministry in Corinth for a year and a half. The sermon highlights the importance of godly friendships, the role of the church community, and the transformative power of the gospel.

Your outline. I'm not going to go quite as far as verse 18. We're going to stop short of that in verse 11, Acts 18 and beginning in verse 1. And thus says the word of the Lord, After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontius who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tentmakers and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. And Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid, but speak, do not keep silent. For I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you, For I have many people in this city and he continued there a year and six months Teaching the Word of God among them. Would you pray with me?

Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for this very Word of God We pray Oh Lord that you would set our hearts and minds aright. Help us, Lord, to see wondrous things from your law. God, your word is sharp and it is powerful. And Lord, we pray that it would prick even to the division of soul and spirit right into the heart oh God that you would show us Lord your glory that you would convict us Lord of our sin and Lord that you would also encourage us to persevere in the midst of difficulties Lord. And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.

You may be seated. Some ways that the Lord encourages His people to persevere in the midst of difficulties. If one thing is for sure, that is that God's people at some point in their life and sometimes over lots of parts of their lives will suffer and be in trials of difficulty and even discouragement. Even as our brother shared with us about the hymn writer in his depression or discouragement, he wrote one of the blessed hymns that we sing to this day. And the Apostle Paul was not exempt from discouragement.

We often think of the Apostle Paul as the man who was ready to run headlong into a crowded auditorium, if you will, or a huge area here, to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without fear. We think of Paul as that man who was in prison and when the jailer came and told him you're free you can go now he said no you send them here to tell me that we are free. So this man who was full of boldness, who was full of zeal, was also a man who was like all men. Even as the Word of God says, Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he struggled, Elijah did, Paul did, Peter did, and you and I do.

We will all have times of difficulty and discouragement. But what I wanted to show you here this morning in this passage in these 11 verses is just three ways or some ways if you will that the Lord encourages us to persevere in the midst of difficulty. Now specifically with the Apostle Paul This difficulty was surrounding the ministry of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the trials and the persecutions and the resistance that he faced while doing that. And yet in the midst of all of those things, God was encouraging him through certain means by which he brought to him and he does the same thing for us. I was really struck by this this week in studying this how God does these three things for us as well.

And so let us jump right into the text looking at verses one through four and we will proceed into this passage. He says after these things, of course these things here, Paul was in Athens just formerly, he was at Mars Hill and he did not have that great of a reception there. He was called the babbler. He was called the one who was ignorant and yet he proved himself to be the one who had the wisdom of God upon his lips. But after these things, after he had even seen a few follow him in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontius who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. One of the ways in which God encourages us in the midst of our difficulties is you'll see there in your outline that the Lord encourages us to persevere by bringing new friends or new people into our lives by way of encouragement. I think if anything has been true in my life, I've been so blessed by the people whom God has brought into my life, and I'm looking at a whole bunch of them right now. God has brought you into my life by way of great encouragement. My brother mentioned to me this morning, we have a word hungry congregation.

We have a congregation who loves the word of God and is ready to hear it and not only to hear it but to do it and that is a tremendous encouragement to your elders and to me specifically this morning. But after these things that they were encouraged we see here that God had brought Paul to this city of Corinth. This was not a kind place, this was a pretty worldly place if you will, very pagan place with all kinds of idol worship. We know 1st and 2nd Corinthians is written there to correct all kinds of troubles and all kinds of wrong thinking and wrong practice that they had and God brings Paul right here to this city and in this city he is by himself. He left remember Berea, he left Athens and now he is at Corinth and he's by himself and as he's going this providential friendship is born.

God brings him to this place in verse 2 and he found a certain Jew. Isn't that interesting? Just by happenstance It's like he just bumps into Aquila and Priscilla as if it just happened. But we know that God is the orchestrator of all things for his people. There are no happenstances.

There are no luck with God's people. This is providential. This is a friendship, though, that was born out of calamity. Isn't it interesting? Sometimes your greatest friends and most deepest long-lasting friendships, the most encouraging friendships, actually can begin with calamity, can begin with some form of difficulty.

I know that each one of you could think right now in your mind of some friend that you have and that relationship actually began in some form of difficulty or discouragement that you were going through and you can actually stop and thank God for that friendship that he brought into your life. And so here he is, he found a certain Jew named Aquila. So have you ever stopped and considered, and as I've already briefly talked about this, but have you ever considered the different people that God has brought into your life. Just take an account of that just for a moment. And I want you to think what seemed like a chance meeting is actually the Lord directing or intersecting two lives or even the lives of families to a mutual benefit and encouragement of each of those people in that family or or those individuals.

God intersects our lives. I can think right now and I can name to you multiple people that God has brought into my life that ended up working for an encouragement to me and a great benefit for me spiritually. That's actually what was happening here. Again, Paul had just left Athens with very little success. He was without traveling companions, his brothers in Christ, Silas and Timothy, and he is now entering into one of the most pagan cities in the Roman world to begin to preach the gospel with the likely possibility of yet again being persecuted for naming the name of Jesus Christ.

And as we learn in 1 Thessalonians 3 that Paul, he was immensely concerned about the new believers in Thessalonica because of the intense persecution that he had experienced there and he was sure to come upon those who had followed Christ. And so he was entering into Corinth off of the hills of not much success in Athens and also with a heart that is heavy with concern for brothers and sisters that he left in Thessalonica. And he did not have Timothy and Silas by his side." And so he's entering. Can you even imagine something like this? He's entering into this city knowing that the Lord has called him to proclaim the gospel.

His heart was heavy, he was alone, and at this time the Lord brought two people into his life. He just found a certain Jew named Aquila. God will do that in your life. A husband and a wife, Aquila and Priscilla. And now, here it is, they were not well established in this city either.

We are given this information here in the second verse that they had just recently come from Italy because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. And so you have Paul who was traveling in somewhat of a discouraged state and in the difficulty and also of being alone and now you have this husband and wife Priscilla and Aquila who have been exiled or cast out of their native city. They were from Pontius originally, we know, but they were living in Italy and now that they were pushed out of Italy because of Claudius having all the Jews to leave. And so both of these people, both of the husband and wife and Paul, were entering into this city and they were both in a trial and in a difficulty. And it is at this time that the Lord chose to intersect the lives of these people.

In both cases, it was a difficulty. It is not certain here whether Aquila and Priscilla were even believers at this time. We're not told if they were believers. I have a thought about it. I'm not going to say that this is a dogmatic truth, but my leaning and my tendency is to believe that they were actually not believers at this time.

And here's the reasonings that I have for that. You see, Paul had not yet preached the gospel in Rome, if you'll remember in Acts 19, 21, the word says this, when these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying, after I have been there, I will also see Rome. He's not been to Rome yet to proclaim the gospel. Doesn't mean that no one had, but I believe that in my leanings I am leaning towards them, Priscilla and Aquila, not being believers at this time. One, they are described, or Aquila is described as a Jew, a certain Jew and not a brother.

He's described also as one who was of the same occupation. Paul stayed with them. It doesn't say because they were believers or because they were brothers, but because they shared in occupation. They had the same trade, if you will. They were both tent makers.

That doesn't really matter too much in our understanding of the passage, but just wanted to mention it. But I find that Calvin gives us really some great encouragement and insight into thinking about this situation that Paul finds himself and really that Aquila and Priscilla find themselves. He says this, also we may see how the Lord by his singular counsel turneth those things, being their forced departure from Italy, to His glory, and the salvation of the godly, which seems contrary to flesh and unhappy. Nothing is more miserable than exile according to the sense of our flesh, but it is far better for Aquila to be Paul's companion than to be in the highest office either at Rome or in the country. And listen to this, therefore this happy calamity of Aquila doth teach us that the Lord doth often better provide for us when he does sharply punish us than if he should most gently entreat us and when he tosses us to and fro in a most extreme exile that he may bring us into the heavenly rest and might I add into a heavenly and brotherly relationship like someone called the Apostle Paul.

This happy calamity. Can you look back in your life and mark down the happy calamities in your life? What an interesting way to term that. You need to understand, I want to bring something to our attention about what he says. He said that it was far better for Aquila to be Paul's companion than to be in the highest office in Rome.

Can you say that about your friendships? Can you say that I am better off in this friendship? Or perhaps I'm better off in this place. I'm better off in this trade. I'm better off right here where God has me.

I'm better off with this specifically friendship. Do your friends draw you closer to Christ or do they lead you away from Christ? It's really one of the most important questions that we can ask as we're seeking to live the Christian life. You need to understand that sometimes there can be, God will bring a happy calamity in your life to put you in a place where you can say, I am better off for this than I was without this. It's a sobering thought.

Can you truly say that it is better to be displaced and to be poor and to struggle to get by with this friendship, a friend that leads you towards Christ, than to be at ease without him. You see, God brings people like this into your life. Young people, I want you to listen to me just for a moment. I want you to consider carefully and to choose your friends wisely. By God's grace Paul found a certain Jew named Aquila and Aquila was the better for it.

And I want you to be and do as the Word of God says in Proverbs 12 26, the righteous should choose his friends carefully for the way of the wicked leads them astray. You see, you can have a friend that draws you heavenward, and you can have a friend that draws you heavenward and you can have a friend that leads you to the very gates of hell. Choose your friends wisely. I'm so thankful that my dearest friends are those who are godly men who lead me heavenward. I am better because of them.

I'm better because of you. I thank God for you. I thank God for you this morning and I will continue to thank God for you as long as you continue to draw me heavenward and just spur me on to godliness, to love and to good works. And really that's part of the reason why we're here this morning. We're here this morning to stir each other up to love and good works.

That's part of the purpose of the gathering of the saints of God's people. But I want you to be thankful for the people that God has brought into your life that lead you to Christ. And I also want you to be on guard against any of those who would lead you away. It's not worth it. It's not worth it.

I also want to press upon you another point. I desire that you have a heavenly perspective of any difficulties or calamities that you may have in your life. I want you to know that it is not for nothing. This difficulty that you may be having right now, it is not for nothing. God has a very specific purpose that He is working in your life.

Every difficulty is from your Heavenly Father. Remember, judge not God by feeble sense, as we just sang. It is not always with the eyes of our body that we understand and see things clearly. But we must look at things through the eyes of faith. We should look for the blessing that are born out of our difficulties and remembering that no matter our circumstance, God is the author of His story and the best story of your life is the story that He has written for you.

It may be difficult, but I want you to understand And I want you to even think back at those dearest of friends that have helped you to walk through those great times of trial in your life. That God has brought them into your life and he has given you them to help you along the way and to encourage you. I believe that that is what God was doing to the Apostle Paul here, and he was also doing it for Aquila and Priscilla, that he crossed their paths together so that they could both say, we have been the better for it. I want us to learn also some things about Paul, the apostle and bond servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely a man like this was too important to the kingdom in the kingdom work than he needed to be working with his hands and getting his hands dirty through manual labor.

You see, we see that he was not a man that was only saying that I'm going to go preach the gospel but he was also a man who understood that manual labor could be used for the advancement of the kingdom. I forget who said it but he said it this way and I believe that he is correct. What makes a work or a trade secular or sacred is not what you do, but why you do it. You see, no matter what any of us do, no matter what we put our hands to do, we can do that work for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Apostle Paul was such an example as this.

Paul was not only one who was encouraged by this friendship, he was not only one who had this providential friendship brought into his life, but we see here in verse 3 that Paul was a man who was a persistent worker. He was a man not given to ease. Verse 3 says so because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tentmakers. You will always find Paul either laboring in the gospel or laboring in his trade. There's no account of Paul just sitting idly by doing nothing.

He's even busy in his dreams. We'll see here just a moment that God gives him a vision and speaks to him. He's even busy while he's trying to sleep. God is always doing something in the life of the Apostle Paul. And in these labors though, this man knew nothing of idleness.

He even mentions this in Acts chapter 20 verse 34. He says, yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. Not only was he thinking about himself in his labor but he was actually thinking about how he could bless others with his labor. No doubt you can imagine Paul said these hands. He wasn't holding up soft hands.

He was holding up some rough hands. He probably had blisters. This tent making and this material that they used for tent making was actually woven out of a goat's hair and many people called it like it was like a sackcloth. It was a rough material that they worked with and Paul was not scared to work with his hands and he did that as need as he had need and even for the needs of others. But that was actually how God worked in his life to bring it about that he would find Aquila and Priscilla.

There's a rabbinic proverb that did not fall short from Paul's father's ears and it goes like this, he who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to be a thief. We would do well men to teach our children, especially our sons, to teach them a trade, teach them how to work because work is sacred if you do it for the glory of God. Let us not have a bunch of idle young men walking around, but let us have young men who are diligent, even like the Apostle Paul. This Apostle Paul, what a man he was. He was laboring in the word.

He was laboring with his hands to provide. And Paul even gives instruction regarding this in 2nd Thessalonians. He says, For you yourself know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you. This disorderly here, he's actually speaking about being lazy and being busy bodies and just kind of wandering around from house to house he says, nor did we eat anyone's bread free of charge but worked with labor and toil night and day that we might not be a burden to any one of you not because we do not have authority but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us. For even when we were with you, we commanded you this, if anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busy bodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread. This was the Apostle Paul. He was a man's man. He was not a lazy man.

He was a diligent man. He worked diligently. But not only was Paul a persistent worker, you'll see there, Paul was a practical preacher. He was one who got down to the practical aspects of things. In verse 4 it says this, and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

He was a practical preacher, if you will. He wasn't just stuck up there like with the men of Athens who had their thoughts up in the ivory towers and there was no practical good in what they were saying. He was actually preaching a gospel that brought practical application. For instance, what I just read to you, that a man, according to the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he should work with his hands. This was the practicality of what Paul was preaching, but here he was reasoning with them regarding Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and he was persuading both Jews and Greeks.

So what do I mean by practical? Paul preached in such a way that he reasoned with the people. He was not simply concerned about theory, But he was concerned about how theology became and came lived out in their practice and in their behavior and how they live their life. Because let me tell you something, if what you say you believe does not change the way you live, you don't really believe it. Theology is meant to change you.

It is meant to take you from one place to another. That's been my prayer this morning, is that this sermon, that this message, that this very word of God would take you from one place from where you are and bring you to another place in your thinking and then also in your living. And I want it to be an encouragement to you. I want you to leave here with this sense that God is encouraging me, no matter though the times be difficult, no matter what is happening in our world around us, that you would be encouraged to persevere in proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. You see, Paul's preaching demanded actual change in a person's life.

This is why people got so upset with Paul. It was not just simply that he was preaching about a Messiah, but he was preaching that Jesus Christ was him. And if Jesus Christ was the Messiah, we needed to not only hear, but do what Jesus Christ commanded. And in fact, what Paul was doing here, he says in Acts 19 and verse 26, moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but throughout almost all Asia this Paul, this is their accusation against Paul, okay. Here's what he's saying, he says, they are saying, This Paul has persuaded and turned many away, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.

Not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling to disrepute, But also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and her magnificence destroyed, whom all of Asia and the world worshiped." So you see, the practicality and the reasoning and the persuasion in which Paul was proclaiming the gospel was one in which it was turning many people away from what they were doing. It was destroying whole sectors of the economy. Those people who were making idols to sell them, they were worried that their trade was going to come to disrepute. And it was going to change actually the economics of that city. That's called practical application of the message of God in a preaching of the gospel because they were now bringing this accusation and he actually said not only them but that the whole world.

He was actually the gospel message was so practical that they said even the name or the reputation of the great goddess Diana was going to be cast down and destroyed. Does your proclamation of the gospel, does your practical application of the gospel do that? I'm here to encourage you that our gospel, the truth that God's gospel, which is our gospel because this is the one we proclaim, that it would so affect you That people would begin bringing accusations against us as a people saying that because of the gospel which we preach that whole sectors of the economy are going to fall into disrepute and be destroyed these wicked things that this world is doing, because of the gospel that we preach. That's a practical gospel. And so not only that, but every Sabbath Paul was doing this.

He was reasoning with the Jews. He was arguing and disputing. It means to make a speech or to discuss in a reasonable discourse because the gospel, my friends, is a reasonable gospel. It's a message that should be clearly proclaimed and though faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and the Word of God comes through preachers, neither is the preacher nor his message, neither should it be unreasonable or unpersuasive. We need to be thinking about the gospel that we proclaim.

We need to be clearly proclaiming the gospel that we say that we believe. And yet we know that those who are perishing, that the message of the cross is foolishness to them, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God unto salvation. This is the practicality of the Gospel that Paul preached. And so Paul, believing this Gospel, and willing not only to labor with his hands, but to labor in the preaching of it, He was willing to do double duty for that which He loved. He loved Christ, and He loved the people of God.

And I want you to understand that Aquila and Priscilla were the better for it. And God blessed both Paul and them because of it. Secondly, in your outline there you see that the Lord encourages us to persevere through the good testimony of old friends. He encourages us to persevere through even through difficulties with new friends that he brings into your life. But I want to show you how God encouraged Paul here and he encourages us through the testimony, the good testimony of old friends.

In verse 5 we read this, when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. If you remember that Paul left Silas and Timothy in Berea and was then taken to Athens because the Thessalonians had come there to persecute Paul and Berea as well and so they took Paul away to Athens and yet Silas and Timothy were left there and soon after he arrived in Athens immediately when he got off of that boat he spoke to them and said hey go and tell Timothy and Silas to come with all speed. He says this in chapter 17 verse 15 and we are told that they meaning Silas and Timothy here they departed immediately to come to the Apostle Paul and then in chapter 18 where we are now we are told that Silas and Timothy, we are not told that they ever arrived in Athens, at least not in this text. We don't see that they arrived in Athens. It seems as if Paul had left Athens before they even got there.

That sounds like something Paul would do. He was a man on a mission. It was hard to keep up with the Apostle Paul. But in fact, what we learn in 1 Thessalonians, you can turn over there if you'd like, in 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 through 8, turn there, and I'll get there in just a moment. We'll read that.

We learn that Silas and Timothy did actually make it to Athens but because of their concern for the believers and Paul's concern for the believers back in Thessalonica, Paul then as soon as he gets there he turns and sends Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on them. This was not a small journey. This was over a hundred mile journey but sends him back there to check on those in Thessalonica And we're not sure exactly. Church history doesn't really tell us. There's some thoughts.

Where was Silas during this time? Because Paul was left alone. Some people believe that he may have gone on to Philippi and ministered there, and then perhaps Timothy found him on the way back to come to Paul in Corinth. It's neither here nor there. The point is this, his great concern, Paul's great concern for those at Thessalonica had him send Timothy back before he came to Paul at Corinth.

And this is what Acts, that was told us in Acts 18.5 that they came from Macedonia. But here in 1st Thessalonians 3 we read these words, Therefore, when they could no longer endure it, when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone, and we sent Timothy our brother, so from Athens he sent Timothy back. We sent Timothy our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ to establish you and encourage you concerning your faith. That no one should be shaken by these afflictions, for you yourselves know that we were appointed to this. For in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation just as it happened, and you know.

For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain. But now that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us this good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us as we also to see you. Therefore brethren in all our affliction and distress we were comforted concerning you by your faith for now we live if you stand fast in the Lord." Do you see this exchange here? You see a couple of things that we're instructed in. Paul was in great heaviness when he came into Corinth just like I'd mentioned earlier.

We know that Paul had a great desire to know the welfare in the state because he had suffered such persecutions in Thessalonica that he was concerned about those few young believers that he had left there. So he then sends Timothy back to check on them and then it speaks here and we see in verse 5 when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit. Why? Well, I believe what we see here in 1st Thessalonians 3, it was because that Timothy has come to us from you and brought us good news of your faith and love and that you always have good you always have good remembrance of us greatly desiring to see us as we also to you. You see Paul was in a distress when he came into Corinth.

He was concerned about them. He was alone. He had just met new friends of Aquila, but he was also in this new city where the preaching was going to be hard. He didn't know what was going to take place and what was going to happen to him. He had this great distress And it seems as if, and we'll get into this in just a moment, that he had been proclaiming here in the synagogue regarding the Messiah, but it wasn't until this point where he was compelled in the Spirit to testify to the Jews not only about the Christ, but that Jesus was the Christ.

This seems to be the first point at which he does that. He has been here for some time waiting on them to come and I believe that this encouragement because of the good testimony of his old friends Timothy and Silas coming to report these things to him, bolstered him up so that he understood that the Gospel of God is the power unto salvation. But it's not only a power to save you, but it is a power to sustain you in the midst of difficulties and trials in your life. This is what God was doing. And even the Apostle Paul was discouraged not knowing their state of affairs, not knowing What was even going to happen to him?

And now when he gained this testimony from them, this good report, he was compelled in spirit to persevere in the preaching of the gospel. Throughout this series that I've been going through and asked, many of these things about persevering in the gospel. Persevering in the gospel. Well guess what? Sometimes you need a little bit of encouragement to persevere in the gospel because the plowing gets hard.

There's a lot of rocks and Stumps in the way. But God sends great consolation at the right time and by the right people to encourage His people to persevere. Don't let, listen, we may be facing some real difficulties in our near future. Don't worry about it. Because we have a God who sits upon the throne.

You need not worry what man can do to you. Paul here was a little worried. He was actually fearful and I'll show you why we believe that in just a few moments. But I want you to understand that the coming of his dear friends greatly bolstered him in the faith to persevere and to proclaim even to the Jews, in verse 5, that Jesus is the Christ. There's no greater name, no other name under heaven by which men might be saved than Jesus Christ.

Paul, I believe, was laying a groundwork talking about the Messiah, But now with the boldness to say this gospel is the one who sustained those brothers and sisters in Thessalonica where I was so abused and persecuted and yet even though I'm not there God is there. God is caring for them though I'm not there. And it encouraged him greatly. This great compelling of the Spirit is this encouraging news that the new believers were persevering in the faith. And with this Paul was, as it says, compelled by the Spirit.

Now there's some debate exactly what this means. Is it talking about that he was compelled by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, or was he compelled by his own spirit? I don't think that it really matters too much in our interpretation of this. The point is this, Paul was stirred up and encouraged to the point by the coming of Timothy and Silas that he persevered in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. This statement is much like the one we saw back in chapter 17 verse 6 when he was in Athens when it says that his spirit was provoked within him when he saw the city was given over to idols and now we know that he was compelled in the spirit when his brothers came to him and gave him such a good report.

One commentator says this, that Silas and Timothy traveled together to Corinth where they found the apostle and gave him this agreeable information that the Thessalonian brethren stood firm in the faith. They bear the persecution of the unbelievers with exemplary fortitude and entertained a grateful remembrance of their spiritual father, the Apostle Paul. These tidings, it seems, filled the Apostle with joy and encouragement and encouraged him to deal more plainly with the Jews at Corinth than he had done before, for he was pressed in spirit. And the more probable that when Silas and Timothy related these things to him and testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ, confirming his testimony by arguments brought from the Scriptures by the Word of God. This was what was taking place in the heart and mind of the Apostle Paul that brought such encouragement to him.

And I want to tell you I have been the recipient of such encouragement from friends from the past. Two things. Number one, nothing is more discouraging when friends from the past who were once faithful have turned from the faith. Nothing can discourage you like that. But also nothing is more encouraging when you see old friends who were faithful still being faithful.

They came with a good report. It's a great thing to have good friends come with a good report. It is an encouragement, it is a bolstering of our soul. It actually spurs us on to love and good works. Our brother, we were talking about it in men's meeting on Tuesday, about how when you stand by yourself to preach the gospel, it's a bit intimidating and you feel a little bit backward and you almost just want to be quiet.

But man, when you have a brother or two come along beside of you and stand with you, you feel like you just, you gain the boldness of a lion to proclaim the gospel in the face of the enemies of God. Praise God that He encourages us not only with new friends, but He does it with old friends. And this, He came and proclaimed to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. This is the heart of the Gospel. It seems again that before, Paul was maybe timid.

I don't know. I don't want to use those words too strongly here. But at least it seems as if this was the first time that He clearly defined not only what the Messiah was, but who He was. He is Jesus. What does that mean?

That He was the Messiah? He is sitting here proclaiming to them what the Old Testament had told them. But it seemed that this was now a very bold statement from the Apostle Paul. Now it seems that he's now burning or pressing in spirit to come out forthrightly and proclaim it. Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus is the Messiah. He is the one. He is the one that the Jews had crucified. He is the one that they reviled against. He is the one that they rejected.

You're Messiah. Jesus is the Christ. But remember that Jesus would have been... Excuse me. The Jews would have been fine talking about the Christ or the Messiah.

But what they were not fine about was giving him the name Jesus. This is the Jesus that the Jews hated. This is the Jesus that the Jews turned over to Pontius Pilate. This is the Jesus that the Jews cried out, crucify him, crucify him. This is the one that Paul now, because of the encouragement of these godly brothers with a good report, this is the one whom Paul now boldly proclaimed.

Don't underestimate, brothers and sisters, your good godly friendships and the encouragement and the good testimony that you give to other brothers and sisters in Christ to persevere in times of difficulty. Don't underestimate that. You are important in the life of your friends. You're important in the life of your friends. You're important in the life of this church.

You don't just sit in a pew, brothers and sisters. You have come this morning to stir us up to love and good works. Stir each other up to these things, brothers and sisters. It is a great necessity within the body of Jesus Christ. It is a great gift of God that He does these things for us.

That we're not sitting alone this morning, simply reading our Bibles, But we are together. We are here to encourage each other. And we now have the boldness to proclaim that Jesus is the Christ, even in the face of many who would stand against us, many who would mock us. You can understand then in verse 6 Paul's frustration with the Jews. It says, but when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean from now on I go to the Gentiles." You see these men were opposing the Apostle Paul.

They were standing against him. He was the flesh and blood that was before them. But they were blaspheming that worthy name of Jesus Christ. They were opposing and blaspheming. We see in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes this, Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a curse or calls Jesus anathema.

And remembering what blasphemy means, it means to drop evil words or profane words, to speak lightly of, to speak amiss of sacred things, to speak ill, to show prejudice against, to speak slander, to speak irreverently towards God. They blasphemed the name of Jesus Christ, that name which is above every name. We see it all over in our society. People blaspheming the name of Jesus. People using the name of Jesus as a cuss word.

They would never darken the door of a church but they are glad to use this name to express frustration with something. It's sickening. They're blaspheming the name, that worthy name, of Jesus Christ. And Paul was done with it. He was so frustrated with them.

This is what they were doing. You know, in fact, it's actually terrifying to even read these words of the Apostle Paul in Corinthians, that they would say Jesus is accursed. No. Jesus is that most blessed and holy name. He is that name which is full of all grace.

He is our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's worthy of praise and adoration. He's worthy to receive all of our glory. And yet with these vile persons, He was receiving a curse instead of a praise. He was receiving blasphemy instead of blessing.

And so Paul is at any wonder and frustration shook the very dust from his garments. This did not fall to the ground with them. They knew what he meant. This was a Jewish sign to Jews. We're helped out by one commentator.

He says this act shaking the dust off was a familiar symbol of the sense of indignation as in this case Paul had and he also had back in Acts 13, he did the same thing. And in Antioch, the Jewish maxim that even the very dust of the heathen land brought defilement with it. It added to its significance. What he means is it added to the significance that a Jew did it to Jews. It was a protest in act, declaring, as our Lord declared in words, that the city or the house which did not receive the messengers of Jesus was below the level even of Gentiles.

As done by a Jew to Jews, No words and no act could so well express the Apostles' indignant protest. He goes on, It was the last resource of one who found appeals to reason and conscience powerless. In other words, his reasoning and the power of his persuasion when it came against these Jews it seemed as if it went upon a stone-cold heart and it was powerless And it was met by brute violence and clamor. You see what happened. When he said these words about Jesus being the Christ, they begin immediately.

It wasn't talking about the Messiah that was a problem. It was that saying that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is the Christ, and when he spoke these words, they began to lash out in violence and in blasphemies against this Jesus. And then Paul says these words, which did not fall to the ground either, your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. This is not the first time this has been spoken.

There's lengthy passages I could read, but for sake of time, I want to read one of them in Ezekiel 3, verse 17-19. Also in Ezekiel 33 you'll find the same concept and same words here but in Ezekiel 3.17 Ezekiel says, God says, Son of man I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel therefore hear a word from my mouth and give them warning for me when I say to the wicked you shall surely die and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked of his wicked ways to save his life. That same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul." And the same thing is said in Ezekiel 33 when he says those very same words. But remember, in Ezekiel 33, God says, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.

But that the wicked would turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways for why should you die, O house of Israel? This was Paul's message to them. He was exclaiming and proclaiming to them that if they would but turn from their wrong belief about the Messiah, that they would understand that Jesus is the Christ and believe upon Him, but they would have none of it. They would rather blaspheme that name than bless that name.

And so Paul likewise mentions this later on in Acts 20. He says, Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. So Paul was not neglecting his duty no matter where he went, but was a faithful watchman, and neither will I this morning. I want you to realize that if you have never repented of your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, I will stand here this morning as a watchman on the wall for you. I'm calling you to turn from your sins and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the Christ. And there is salvation in no other name. There is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will have the promise that all those who call upon that name shall be saved. And brothers and sisters, we are all watchmen on the wall.

It terrifies me, even just the other day I'm convicted in my soul about this. As I was standing and speaking, there was a woman at the check-out, who was the check-out person at Lowe's, that started to tell me something of her life and what she used to do in leading men into adultery. I stood speechless. I was sickened, but I was silent. But I was silent.

I didn't know what to say. I did know what to say. I just didn't say it. God helped me to speak the truth to every person that I can truly say like the Apostle Paul, I am innocent of the blood of all men, of all men, And I want that to be true for every one of us. Paul's frustration with these Jews provoked him to go a step further.

From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. Metaphorically speaking, you can imagine Paul has been pouring gas around their feet. He just then poured it on their head. And with this statement, he just lit their hair on fire. I go to the Gentiles.

He was saying to them as if you're not worthy of the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. You have rejected the Christ, the Messiah. And this statement struck them like a match in their hair. As if they would say, go to the Gentiles? What?

This was out of the realm of their understanding and comprehension. For in their minds, how could a Jew take a gospel or a salvation message to a Gentile? This too though was foretold in the Old Testament in Isaiah 49. He says, indeed, it is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will go also or I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles that you should be my salvation to the ends of the earth." This statement seemed to indicate that Paul is done with the Jews completely.

But he has said this before in Acts 13 46 and explains and we understand by these two occurrences that he's not completely done with the Jews but it is believed more that he was done with the Jews at Corinth because of the hardness of their heart. Maybe even to the limited scope of that synagogue, that I'm done with you, I will go to the Gentiles. Paul does not renounce all further work among the Jews. We know that from the rest of Scripture. We know that from two verses later.

We find in chapter 19, in the next chapter as well, that says when he went to the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months. Paul was not done with the Jews. He was still going to proclaim the gospel to the Jews. He was just done with them there in Corinth. Their heart was so hard he reasoned all his reasoning.

But Paul's strategy though of lodging, this is interesting, where does he stay after he's done with the Jews because of this? In verse 7, and he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue might have a little bit of foot traffic of Jews coming by that house as they go to the synagogue and in fact there must have been more conversation here that Paul was having because then we read in verse 8 then Crispus the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household. Paul was not completely done with them. It's telling though that two verses after Paul says, I'm done, here he is, we have Crispus, this Jew, this ruler of the synagogue, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Apparently, Paul did not entirely give up on these people.

They were not completely hopeless as a people. Rather, where Paul found an audience with Jews or Gentiles, Paul preached the message as we should do. Paul was always ready to preach the gospel to all men, but not only to the ruler of the synagogue, but look at what it says. It says that Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. Everyone within that house heard the gospel as well.

Everyone within that house believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. What a sweet fruit born from a thorny bush. Here Paul enters into Corinth. He's discouraged. He's alone.

God gives him the friend of Aquila and Priscilla. He goes on, Timothy and Silas come with great encouragement, and yet he's preaching the gospel. He's getting tremendous push back by the Jews. And then God, He saves the ruler of the synagogue. What a sweet fruit God does.

Is God not an encouraging God to us? He gives Paul this great fruit. God is gracious to encourage us in such ways in the midst of difficulty. And may I add, in the midst of a pagan city and society. God is not lacking in encouragement, brothers and sisters.

You have encouraged me this morning. I'm sitting here in the midst of a pagan culture that we live in, and I'm looking at a whole big group of people who love the Lord Jesus Christ. I am encouraged by that. God did that. God is doing that.

It's an encouragement to us, this very church. Though it may seem, brothers and sisters, that we have labored hard to preach the gospel and see lost people come to Christ, though it seems like we have little or no fruit. Do not be discouraged. It is God who grants the increase. And as He sees fit, He will bring forth fruit.

He will add to His church as He sees fit. Now let us continue on. Help us to be persistent and to be faithful. To plow the ground, to plant the seed, to water the seed, and leave the fruit bearing to God. He will do his work in his time because only he can do that.

But as we are about to see, even the apostle Paul was not exempt from discouragement and fear. I've already mentioned it and referenced it, but we see this in the third point in verses 9 to 11. The Lord encourages us to persevere by his word look what it says now the Lord this is so encouraging now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision do not be afraid but speak Do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you for I have many people in this city and he continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them And I apologize I'm not having a whole lot of time left to go through this one, but let's go through it quickly. It's interesting that immediately after many of the Corinthians had heard, many had believed, even the ruler of the synagogue had believed with his whole household, they had been baptized, that God understood something within the heart of Paul, that Paul needed something, and God met that need through his word. Now, I'm going to not say that you need to be looking for a vision in the night to be encouraged by God.

We have the written Word of God to encourage us. We have this vision written down for us. So here it is. If you want to hear God speak audibly, read your Bible out loud and you'll hear him speak audibly. This is God's word to us and it is an encouragement.

If my calculations are correct, this is only one of six times that God spoke to the Apostle Paul. What did he say? What he said I believe is very important. He said five things and I listed them there for you. Number one he said do not be afraid.

Why did he say that? Because he knew Paul was afraid. Paul himself said he was afraid in Thessalonians and in Corinthians 2-3. He says, I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. That sounds like afraid.

That was where Paul was and God knew it and therefore God comes to Paul and says do not be afraid. Number two he said, speak do not keep silent. The temptation for us in the weakness of our flesh when we stand alone is to not speak and to remain silent. God commands not only Paul but us to proclaim the truth of the gospel. You see it's interesting, Paul was speaking everywhere he went but for some reason at this point at this time it seemed as if to Paul the door was shut towards the Jews this may even be a correction to Paul I'm not sure because remember Paul says I'm done with you Jews and then God comes to him in the night and says speak do not be silent There's a temptation when we do not see fruit as we think it should be that we want to shut a door.

Well guess what? God is the one who opens and shuts things. That's his business. We are to proclaim. We are to speak and not keep silent.

Number three, he says, for I am with you. It's easy to read those words and think, yeah that's that's a great general statement. That was for Paul. In Matthew 28 verse 20 it says, lo I'm with you until the end of the age. That was for the disciples.

I want you to hear something this morning. God has promised you individually I will never leave you nor forsake you. You. I am with you, God says. No need to fear.

What do you fear when God is with you? Who shall bring a charge against us? It was read this morning. Who is it that will speak against us if God be with us? Who can be against us?

That's how we should live our lives in knowing God is with us. We are never alone. It's actually not reasonable to fear. That's why he says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, through prayer and supplication, make your requests be made known to God.

Because God is with you and God hears you. Number four, no one will attack you or attack you to hurt you. This is a very specific promise of God And it was only true in Corinth. It had happened before and it was going to happen later. But in the midst of this moment, Paul apparently was feeling fearful and weak.

God sent him encouragement through new friends, through old friends, and the very Word of God. And God said this, Paul, no one's going to touch you. Not here. Isn't that encouraging? You imagine how that...

Man, if God spoke and said to you, don't worry about it, no one can hurt you. We would be running right down in the midst of the Pride Parade in Raleigh proclaiming the Gospel. No one's going to do anything to me. Imagine the courage that built up within the Apostle Paul. Well guess what?

We're not given that promise that no one would hurt us, but we are given that former promise, I am with you. I am with you. And I promise you this, No one can hurt you unless the Lord Jesus Christ allows it. That is a great comfort to His people. And then lastly, number five, I have many people in this city.

There is a temptation for us when we Share the gospel, proclaim the gospel, and it seems like every heart is stone cold. There's a temptation for us to think, Elijah, me and Elijah, we're the only ones left. God, it's just me. Guess what? That's not true.

God corrected Elijah. He says, Elijah, I've got 7, 000 who have not bowed their knee. Think about that. How many people does God have in this city? Now what he's talking about there are not those who are already believing.

He is talking about those whom God has chosen before the foundation of the world that they needed to hear Paul speak the gospel to them so that they would be saved. Yes, even God had elect in the city of Corinth, and if he had the elect in the city of Corinth, I am confident brothers and sisters that God has the elect here in Wake Forest and in Raleigh and in this whole state of North Carolina and in this nation. And we are not to be quiet. We are to speak the gospel to every one of them as God allows. Do not fear for God is with you.

This is our promise. And may this encouragement that Paul received from these things, which enabled him to persevere in preaching the gospel in a discouraging place and under discouraging circumstances. He did it for another year and a half with great boldness. And we know that a church was planted there, but I want you to know that it's not only in Corinth, but it went all the way to Rome itself. And it has gone all the way to Wake Forest, North Carolina.

Because here we stand. Let us not be fearful. Let us not be quiet. Let us speak the truth of the gospel. Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we glorify Your Holy Name. We praise You, O Lord, that You have done such a mighty work. Lord, I pray that this encouragement that we have seen here in the life of the apostle Paul, that you would give to us as well, that it would embolden us to never stand silent again. That we would stand with the truth in our mouth. That we would stand and speak.

Lord, you have called us to do this. Lord, we feel so unworthy to do this. We feel so weak when we do this. Lord, we trust you to bring the great fruit from this. But Lord, we know that you have given us this means by which the gospel will be heard and believed.

We must speak. Enable us, O God, encourage us, embolden us to proclaim this glorious gospel. And we ask it in Christ's name, Amen.