Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you for
another day that we can be together and we can hear Your Word, we
come and bow before You in appreciation and thankfulness that we would
have this privilege. Lord, there are so few places
where You've allowed Your Gospel to be preached and that You would
allow it to be preached here. We're thankful for that. Bless,
we pray, as we read Your Word and bless our hearing for Christ's
sake, Amen. The Apostle Paul had preached in Athens. He had gone there and he noticed
while he was there in that city that the whole city was given
to idolatry. And while he was there, he noticed
one particular monument to the unknown God. And he was moved
by the Spirit of God to meet with a group of people. And he
told them, he said, I noticed that you You've got a monument
here. And it says to the unknown God.
And He said, this God that you openly admit that you're ignorant
of, that's the God I want to tell you about. And He preached
to them Christ. That is, He preached to them
what God had said in the Scriptures concerning His Lamb, His Messiah,
God's purpose to save a people and to show mercy to whomsoever
He would. And some of them, the Scripture
said, hurt Him, but most of them mocked Him. And they said, at
best, well, we'll hear of this matter again. In verse 1 of chapter 18, it
said, After these things, that is, after what I just told you,
Paul departed from Athens and he came to Corinth. Now, obviously,
the Spirit of God was the one that caused Paul to leave Athens
and go to this new city. They are led by the Spirit of
God. They're the sons of God. He was
directed. So he left this place in Athens,
and obviously there was some that heard. Some of them did.
But do you know that there was no record of Paul ever writing
a letter to an established church in Athens, even though some Did
believe. There were some that did. But
the Lord wasn't pleased. This is what I was talking about
a while ago when we sought the Lord in prayer. The privilege
of having a place. If you just stop for a moment
and think, there are numerous people here that I'm convinced
that the Lord has called out of darkness, given a heart for
Christ, Think about what it would be like if there was no church
here. What would you do? And you think,
I don't even know. Often I don't even think about
it. Church in Lexington, what a blessing. God would raise up
here and there. Places where, but as far as I
know, There was no book, you know, to the Athenians. There
was to the Corinthians, but not one in Athens, though there was
some. But Paul departed from Athens
and he came to Corinth. And it says in verses 2 and 3,
he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately
come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. because that Claudius
had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them. And because he was of the same
craft, that is Paul, he abode with them and wrought. For by
their occupation they were tent makers. Paul was a Pharisee,
but it was a custom. He also had a craft. He knew
how to work. And he was a tent maker. Now,
whether or not Priscilla and Aquila were believers before
they met Paul, the Scripture is not clear on that. We're not
really told. But this one thing that we do
know, that the Lord, by His grace and mercy to this couple, a man
and his wife, God was pleased to reveal Himself to them. Paul had crossed their path.
Whether they were believers before, I don't know, but I do know this
in Romans 16.3, Paul said this, Greek Priscilla and Aquila, my
helpers in Christ Jesus. Boy, that's an epitaph, isn't
it? That's my helpers, my friends, friends in the gospel. They had
come, this couple, the Scripture said they'd come from Italy because
Claudius, had commanded all of the Jews to depart. Now, what
I could find out about that was that this man, the governor,
Claudius, there was such quarreling between the believing Jews and
the unbelieving Jews. There was just, I mean, it was
constant friction. And because they just didn't
see eye to eye, spiritually, It caused everything else to
be at odds with them. And Claudius was afraid that
his superiors would look and think, you're not able to handle
this thing. If you can't handle this situation,
I'll get somebody in there that can. So this was job security
for him. So he just made a decree and
he says, listen, all the Jews, are going to have to get out.
So that was why Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart
from Rome. Get out. Get out of here. I'm
not going to fool with you. But you know, we fail to see
the providence of Almighty God working by His Spirit, directing
the events of this world for God's glory and for the good
of His people. Now Paul was going to come, the
Scripture says, to Corinth. And he had divinely appointed,
the Lord had divinely appointed that Paul was going to cross
the path of this couple right here. So the Lord so ordered
all of the events and moved them out of Rome and put them in Corinth,
and that's where Paul met him, and the Scripture says, because,
verse 3, he was of the same craft, he abode with him and wrought,
because they were tent makers. He worked, is what it means. He worked there. It wasn't going
to be a burden to him. Now, you know, the Apostle Paul,
turn over to 1 Corinthians 9. I want to show you something.
dealt with this. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 7. He dealt with this issue. Now
here's Paul. He's a preacher. He's a missionary. He's an apostle. And he's preaching
the gospel. And he comes to this place in
Corinth. And Paul here in this Scripture
that we're going to look at taught under the inspiration of the
Spirit of God, the necessity, the obligation, the duty, but
the privilege of taking care of those that preach the gospel. Now, 1 Corinthians 9, 7, who
goeth to warfare any time at his own charges? Who planteth
a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? Or who feedeth
the flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I
these things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same also? For
it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth
of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care of oxen,
for oxen? Or sayeth he yet altogether for
our sakes, for our sakes, no doubt this is written, that he
that ploweth should plow in hope, and that he that thresheth in
hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you
spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal
things? If others be partakers of this
power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless, we have not used
this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel
of Christ. Do you not know that they which
minister about holy things live of the things of the temple?
And they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?
Even so hath the Lord ordained. that they which preach the gospel
should live of the gospel. So here's the Apostle Paul stating
that it is the responsibility of a man that God calls to preach
the gospel. He's got a responsibility to
study. That's what the apostles told. He said, they said, get out over
in the book of Acts chapter two, seek out seven men, good report,
filled with the Holy Spirit. And they said, it's not fit that
we should try to take care of all of the administration of
everything. He said, our responsibility is
to give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.
That is the responsibility of a preacher, one that God has
called and placed over a flock. And it's the responsibility of
the flock to meet the needs of that preacher. to take care of
him. Whatever his needs are, he meets
spiritually the needs of the flock, and they meet carnally,
Paul is saying, the needs of the church. But here's a situation
where Paul is getting a couple that he's living with, and he
goes to work making tents. Now, you know, a lot of a lot
of times whenever you see something like this, you ask yourself now,
why? Why did Paul over in 1 Corinthians
say and state the responsibility of the of the church, of the
established church, to take care of a pastor? And here he is.
Is he, is Paul contradicting himself? Why is he doing that?
Turn over to 2 Thessalonians. Let me show you something. I
want to show you why. He did what he did, 2 Thessalonians
3. 2 Thessalonians 3, 8. Now he's
speaking concerning his state. He says, neither did we eat,
2 Thessalonians 3, 8, neither did we eat any man's bread for
nothing, for naught, but wrought with labor and travail night
and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you, not
because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example
unto you to follow us." Paul, what he was doing was there was
no established church in Corinth. He came to this city and crossed
paths with Priscilla and Aquila, his husband and wife. There was
no church there. The Lord had sent him there and
he had a responsibility. to not be a burden until the
Lord would show him whether or not he was going to raise up
a church in that place. Now, once he did, the whole situation
changed. But Paul did not come in there
and start going to people and start telling them, you know,
there was no church there. You know, you try to walk into
a place where there is no church and see how much the world, you
know, is sensitive to the needs of a preacher that's preaching
the gospel of free grace. And you're going to find out
they really don't care whether or not you have anything to eat,
to be honest with you. Paul was using some good wisdom
here. He went to work because there
was no church raised up in Corinth at that time. But as diligent
and as honorable as Paul was to not be a burden to those that
His path had providentially crossed. He was diligent also when it
came to worship. Verse 4 says, And he reasoned
in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the
Greeks. Now, Ecclesiastes 3.1 says to
everything there is a season. There is a time for every purpose
under heaven. There was a time that Paul the
Apostle because there was no place, because there was no church,
put his hand, took the task of making tents. But then when it
came time for the worship of God, Paul was at the synagogue
and he reasoned. That is, he preached with thorough
exhortation to those that were taking the very Scriptures that
Paul was preaching out of and they were abusing them. What
they were doing is they saw the law. They saw the ritual. They saw the formalism. They saw all that. They just
didn't see Christ. They saw in the law. They saw the brazen altar. They
saw the showbread, the candlestick. They knew about slaying the Lamb. They understood all that. They
understood the parts where you'd go through all the months. They
just didn't see Him. And Paul reasoned with them and
persuaded them, the Scripture says. That means to apply persuasion. To prevail upon in order to win
over. That's what it means. He persuaded
them. He would take those Old Testament
Scriptures Now here he was taking his one, Deuteronomy 18.15, "...the
Lord thy God will raise unto thee a prophet from the midst
of thee, of thy brethren like unto me, unto him ye shall hearken."
Paul was saying, God Almighty said back in Deuteronomy, He
is going to raise up a prophet out from among you. Isaiah 7,
14, Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign. Behold,
a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and call his name Immanuel. He was raised up, born of a virgin,
came forth. Here was the Lord Jesus Christ,
and Paul was exhorting them and preaching to them and reasoning
with them every Sabbath day out of those Scriptures. Now I realize
that Paul the Apostle, when he says He reasoned with them and
persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. You know and I know. Paul had
no power to persuade them. In fact, Paul says in 1 Corinthians
3, 6, I planted, Apollos watered, but who gives the increase? God
gives the increase. I can preach. Brother Scott can
preach. I'm going to stand here and preach.
and set forth and look. And we're looking in this passage
of Scripture, every passage that we're looking for Christ and
Him crucified. We're looking for the gospel
of free grace. Set forth the Lord Jesus Christ. But what power do we have to
persuade you? None. None. The Lord must give. Now, I know this. I know some were truly converted. because the Lord did raise up
a church in Corinth. Paul wrote two letters, 1 and
2 Corinthians. Some were truly raised up, but
I'm sure that like any place else, there were some that were
persuaded only in their mind. You know, it's an amazing thing,
and you're going to understand what I'm talking about. We don't
find any comfort in five points of Calvinism. Now, you ask, what do you mean? Well, do I believe that a man
is totally depraved? There's no faculty in him at
all that is untouched by sin. No, he's depraved. Did God unconditionally
elect a man? Did the Lord Jesus Christ die
only for his sheep, only for his elect? Yes, sir. That's right.
Does the Spirit of God irresistibly call the elect out of darkness
in due season? Yes, he does. And are they going
to come? They sure are. What's the possibility
that any that God has everlastingly loved is not going to come? What's
that possibility? Zero. All that the Father gives
me shall come to me. Are they going to remain? Are
they going to persevere? Absolutely. They're kept by the
power of God through faith. They say, well, what part do
you not believe? It's not the five points of Calvinism
that we dispute. I'm not saying that. What I'm
saying is a man can intellectually get five points down in his mind
and say, Now, I understand. This is the way it is. I don't
believe in that free willism. I don't believe in that stuff.
He can understand it in his mind and never have a heart for it,
never have a love for the Christ that those doctrines set forth
and preach concerning. They understand it in their head
and will say, I am a five-point Calvinist. But it takes God Almighty
to give a man a heart and a love for Christ that those doctrines
set forth. Paul, the Scripture says, he
reasoned with them. And the Scripture says while
he was reasoning with them, he persuaded those Jews. But Scripture
says in verse 5, when Silas and Timotheus were come, From Macedonia,
Paul was pressed in the Spirit and testified to the Jews that
Jesus was Christ. Now, pressed in the Spirit, what
obviously happened? Well, I can tell you this. The
Apostle Paul, obviously and spiritually, was weighted down. Weighted down. He was pressed in the Spirit. Paul, whenever Silas and Timothy,
Timotheus, came from Macedonia, Paul felt the urge of the Word
of Truth that he had been preaching to these Jews at Corinth. In fact, Jeremiah said in Jeremiah
20, verse 9, His Word was in my heart as a burning fire shut
up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearance, and I couldn't
stay." Jeremiah had said, because so many just wouldn't believe
him. They wouldn't believe him. They
just mocked him. In fact, Jeremiah, he said, I'm
just not going to tell you anymore. I'm just not. That's it. That's
it. And he said, I just couldn't.
I just had to, you know. Paul, the apostle, when it says
that he was pressed in the Spirit, he was urged on, he was motivated. That's spiritually motivated. You know, he wasn't one that
easily crumbled under pressure. You know, you learn after a while.
As Brother Scott says, you earn that hard bark. Just, you know,
you don't want to get calloused to people. You don't. You really
don't. But boy, I tell you, there's times that you feel, you know,
that you've said it, said it, said it, and you think, man,
does anybody here, you know, man, am I hearing it? You know. Philippians 4, 12 and 13, Paul
says, I know both how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry,
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me. But though Paul was mightily
taught by the Spirit of God, he was a man, according to Acts
14, 15, Paul said this, of like passions with other men. He grew weary in the work, not
of the work. Those that God calls to preach,
they don't grow weary of it, but they grow weary in it. They're
tired. They spend and are spent. Let me tell you my biggest problem.
You know, a lot of times I'll just share my heart with you
a little bit. I can I feel that there's times
that I'll come up and I'll I'll look at a passage and I'll the
first thing that I want to do if I'm going to study before
I can even read. I'm not trying to sound super
spiritual. I'm just trying to be honest with you. First thing
I want to do is ask the Lord before I even read. I don't even
start reading. Lord, would you help me? Because
I can't even read your Word with any understanding if you don't
give me some instruction. And then read it and study it
and then look and ask and seek. And in my mind, here's what I'm
thinking the whole time. I want to see Christ in this.
I want to see Christ in this Scripture. I want to see the
Lord. I want to see His honor. I want
to see God Almighty. Speak to me. And then before
we come together and pray, and I mean, before we come together
and I'll preach, and I'll ask, Lord, you help me. These people,
these are Your people. And these are Your sheep. And they're going to assemble
tonight. And Lord, I'd like to ask You,
please, would You bless this Word? Would You bless the preaching
of it and the hearing of it? And then You preach, You're trying
to read notes and not be a slave to them, but you want to not
be chasing rabbits either. And then you get through, and
then you start going home. And you start thinking on it.
And you think, oh boy, I wish I could go back and preach that
again. You know, I just, and I mean, it'll take me, you know,
what, Glen Jean, about till tomorrow? Something like that, you know.
And you just feel... You grow weary in it. Not of
it. But you get tired. And you just
ask, Lord, would you bless this? And when you've done all you
can do, you think, you know what? We're just unprofitable servants.
We've done what we pray was the right thing. Paul was tired. He had been going. He went to
Philippi. He got thrown in jail. Then he went to Athens. Then
he goes to Corinth. And he was pressed in the Spirit
and testified. He preached. He was motivated.
He worked all week. There wasn't a church there. He worked all week making tents. because he wouldn't be chargeable,
wouldn't be a burden to him, and then he bore the burden of
preaching on the Sabbath day. He later wrote a letter to the
church that the Lord raised up here in Corinth in 1 Corinthians
2, 1-3. And I, brethren, when I came
unto you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified, and
I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling." What? Paul? Paul the Apostle? What kind of weakness? Well,
because of the abundance of revelation that was given him, 1 Corinthians
12, 7, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger
of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure. What
was it? I don't know. And everybody else
that says they know, they don't know. Suffice it to say that
it was a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan that God
allowed Paul to bear. And he said, I besought the Lord
thrice. And as I've said before, I don't
think it means three times. I think it means over and over
and over. And the Lord said, My grace is
sufficient. He was tired. The pressure of
the ministry, obviously, weighed on him. But the Lord, in His
mercy, sent two preachers there, two fellow preachers, Silas and
Timothy. And Timothy came from the church,
the Scripture says, from Thessalonica, with some tidings of their faith
and material assistance for Paul. He was working night and day
trying to build tents, and then he was trying to, he had to prepare,
you know, and he preached 1 Thessalonians 3, 6, and 7. He says, But now
when Timotheus came from you unto us and brought us good tidings
of your faith and charity, and that ye have good remembrance
of us always, desiring greatly to see us as we also see you,
therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all of
our affliction and distress. By your faith, it was an encouragement
to him whenever these two guys came. Let me tell you something.
You don't have any idea, no idea, what an encouragement it is from
the brethren to be greeted by other brethren. I mean, you don't
have any idea the encouragement it is to me. I mean, you may
say something to me It may have just been something off the cuff
for you. You just didn't think anything about it. Or just because
I saw you. I don't know. But I mean, there's
times that you just spurred on. You take a deep breath and you
just about beat yourself down thinking, man, I botched that. And believe me, when I say this,
I'm not just saying that. I mean that. I mean it. But then
there's times that just, I don't know, just the Lord will send
a word. He sent two preachers here. Silas
came also. He brought faithfulness from
the church at Philippi. Paul wrote them at Philippians
4, 15 and 16. Now ye Philippians know also
that at the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from
Macedonia, no church communicated with me concerning giving and
receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica You
sent once and again unto my necessity." Paul, he was a man faithful to
the Lord Jesus Christ, but he was a man and he got tired. He got tired and the Lord encouraged
him. His burden was eased by these
fellow preachers, by the fellowship of these preachers. company of
each other. I tell you, it's the greatest
encouragement to me just to be here with you. Just be here.
Just be here with believers, you know. Well, Scott doesn't
have to say anything to me. Just walk in. Walk in. All I've
got to do is see you, you know. My heart's rejoicing. Bob, Bob
Wilson, all of you, Carl, you guys, you ladies, thank God for
you. Thank God for the fellowship
that we have. Paul had the need of those who
were of like faith. Fellowship of believers. The
greatest blessing that Almighty God would ever send a community,
I can tell you this, is a pastor. And the greatest encouragement
that a pastor has is the flock. that the Lord has raised up.
I thank the Lord for you. Verse 6 says, and this will be
the last one, "...and when they opposed themselves..." Now see,
Paul was tired, tired in the Gospel. Not of it, but in it.
The Lord sent Silas and Timotheus. They came down from Macedonia.
And Paul was pressed in the Spirit. He was encouraged. "...and testified
to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. He preached it. I mean, he preached
with enthusiasm and vigor and thankfulness and assurance that
the Word of God was not going to return void. He knew that.
And it says that when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he
shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your
own heads. I'm clean. From henceforth I'll
go to the Gentiles. They opposed. themselves. They actually, what that means
is they set themselves in a battle array. It looks like they were
organized in their rebellion and they blasphemed. Blasphemy. That means it is to speak disrespectfully,
number one, to speak disrespectfully and reproachfully. And also in
the definition of blasphemy, it is the stubborn refusal to
submit to the sovereignty, to the word, to the authority of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I will not have that man rule
over me. Now, you know what? A man or
a woman doesn't have to say that outwardly. How many times in
Scriptures do you find it said, and the Lord knowing their thoughts,
said to them, Why think ye? He knows. They opposed themselves. Blaspheming. Paul shook his raiment. It was a gesture. Shook his raiment. He said, Your blood is on your
own heads. I'm clean. You know, the Lord
had said in Matthew 10, 14, 15, Whosoever shall not receive you
nor hear your words, When you depart out of that house, that
city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah
in the day of judgment than for that city." Does that seem to
indicate that there will be degrees of suffering in hell? I think
so. Yeah, if more tolerable means more tolerable, and I think it
does. That's what the word means, more tolerable. Why? Because
they'll remember. There will be a greater suffering
for those that have heard the gospel and said, I am not going
to hear that. I ain't sitting under that no
more. I ain't going to be there. I'm not going to deal with you.
He said, if they won't hear you, depart, shake the dust off your
feet as a testimony against their rebellion. Paul said, Your blood
is on your head. You are the authors of your own
ruin. That's what he was saying. You're
inexcusable. And you must bear your own punishment. Your blood be on your own. If
His blood be on my head, I've got some hope. When the Lord
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. But if He doesn't
see His blood, If God Almighty hasn't applied the blood by His
mercy and grace and choice, then the Scripture says your blood's
on your head. Inexcusable. Paul says, I'm clean. Referring, I know, to Ezekiel
33, 9. If thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if
he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity,
but thou hast delivered thy soul. Paul said, Your blood is upon
your head. I am clean from henceforth. I will go to the Gentiles." That
is, to the Gentiles in that city, not the Jews. He went to the
Jews first. And they, by and large, wouldn't hear him. And
he went to the Gentiles. And you know the rest of the
story. God raised up a church there. He blessed the preaching
of the gospel in that place. And the Lord raised up a church. in Corinth. And it was a great
testimony to the evidence of God's mercy and grace to send
the Word of Christ to a people that He had everlastingly loved.
Those that rejected the Lord Jesus Christ in Paul's preaching,
those Jews, they did it because they wanted to. But those that
heard Him in Corinth, What was the only thing that could be
said concerning their hearing? Paul said like this, by the grace
of God, I am what I am. What was the difference between
you and anybody else? Now think about it. What's the
difference? Grace of God. That's it. Cut out of the same
lump, same lump, same lump to make one vessel unto honor, one
that's worth the cost. leave one to himself in dishonor.
Oh, may God be pleased to cause our mind to bless this Word to
our hearts and cause us to understand. God sent a preacher. Some heard
and some didn't. What was the difference? The
distinguishing grace of God. Let's pray together. Our Father,
how thankful we are that we could just, Lord, for a little while,
come together and just look in the Scriptures and see how you
were pleased to send your gospel to this place. Send a preacher.
And though we do get tired, our bodies are weary and we tire. And Lord, how faithful You are
to never leave us to ourself. Thank You for Your goodness.
We pray You'd bless this Word to Your glory and to our understanding,
for Christ's sake. Amen.