Acts chapter 18. Our text today will be Acts 18 verses 1 through 17. I want to talk to you today about God's providence and our focus. God's providence does not change, but our worldview can get out of focus. And this in turn may hinder our steadfast, consistent faithfulness. We must lean into God's providence and remain focused on all that He commands us in order to see His kingdom come. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That is what Jesus taught us to pray for. And it is what we are to work for. Acts 18 verses 1 through 17. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, that your word, Lord is like so many things. It's like a fire. It's like water. It's like a hammer. It molds us. It shapes us. It transforms us and renews us. It conforms us, Lord, through the work of your spirit, to the very image of Jesus. Father, would you do this work in us as your people, as your church, that we would be a witness to you in this land? So desperate for Christ, the light of Christ, the hope of Christ, the true, the only Savior. Father, we ask that you would buy your spirit, work in us today through your word to mold us in the shape us, to make us the witness you have called us to be for the glory of your name. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Acts chapter 18 beginning in verse 1 through verse 17. Hear 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 of Pontus, 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. And so because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers. 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. For now I will go to the Gentiles. And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshipped God whose house was next door to the synagogue. Then Christmas, the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord and all his household. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. Do not be afraid but speak and 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. When Gallio was Procouncil of Achaea, the Jews with one cord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, Oh, Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to that, look to it yourselves. For I do not want to be a judge of such matters. And he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sasthanese, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things. This is the Word of the Lord. In verse one, we see Paul is departing Athens and going to Corinth. Remember, Paul had traveled to the European continent from Asia, leaving Western, what is today, Western Turkey, sailing across the Aegean Sea and landing in Macedonia in Northern Greece. And when you landed in Macedonia, he began to systematically preach and teach the gospel, making disciples of the nations and seeing God bring increase and fruitfulness to his labors. He was persecuted and treated harshly along the way. But none of that deterred him from obeying the commission that Jesus gave him to take the gospel and disciple the nations. Upon leaving Athens, Paul traveled south, he sailed to Athens. Verse two and three, Luke tells us that he found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus, which is on the Aegean continent, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. And they had recently come from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came to them. So Paul came to Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth. And so because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked for by occupation. They were tent makers. That was Paul's occupation. He was a tent maker. That was his trade. God always prepares us for what or for who we need. It was no accident that upon his arrival in Corinth, Paul meets a certain Jew named Aquila. He had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla and Luke tells us that Aquila and Priscilla left Italy because Claudius the Emperor had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. This was likely due to riots that were taking place. In other words, unbelieving Jews were persecuting, rioting, protesting because Jews were coming to faith in Christ, believing Christ to be their Messiah. And this, just like it did everywhere, Paul went among the Jews. It created conflict there in Rome. Claudius actually was friendly to the Jews for the most part. But when they began to disrupt the city with these riots, fighting amongst themselves, he just said to all of you, League. And so Aquila and Priscilla leave Rome and they go to Corinth. We can imagine what a hardship that must have been. You're completely uprooted. You're forced to leave your home, leave your work, leave your business, leave all you had built there simply because you are a Jew or you get caught up in the middle of this thing. Yet they had no choice. It was leave or suffer a worst fate. Aquila and Priscilla fled to the city of Corinth and God's providence, Paul and Aquila meet. God had completely arranged the meeting by arranging the circumstances that led these two men to one another. Their meeting was a divine grace and a providence that would have far reaching and lasting impact, not only on Paul but on the church. Many others. And this is why we must learn to not only accept God's providence, but trust it implicitly. That is certainly easy when we can look back and see all the ways that God's providence has worked for our good on our behalf. When we can see all the good that came as a result of God's providence, it's not as easy when we are in the midst of our circumstances and our lives are being completely disrupted or inconvenienced or worse. And we can see no rhyme or no reason as to why things are happening the way they are yet. It is precisely in those times that we must trust him and the providence at work in our lives and all around us because it is. It is all around us. It is at work all around us. Be it bitter or be it sweet and God's providence comes in both bitter and sweet ways. The providence of God can take us to the highest of heights or it can take us to the lowest of lows. It even takes us through the valley of the shadow of death. Yet even there in the valley of shadow, God promises that He is with us to comfort us and to lead us on to higher ground. Even to a table He has prepared for us in the presence of our enemies. I don't know about you, but I like to keep enemies far away. But God prepares a table in the presence of our enemies. And no matter how close our enemies may be, God is still closer. You must never forget that. Whatever it is you might be going through. However close your enemies may seem to be, God is still closer. And Christ we dwell under the shadow of the Almighty sheltered safely under the wings of His love. Therefore we have no reason to fear. Verse 4, and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. This was Paul's pattern wherever he went. There is so much to be said about steadfastness and consistency. We saw this in the record of the early days of the church when Luke wrote in Acts 242 and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in prayers. They continued steadfastly. Here we see Paul continuing steadfastly as he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath persuading both Jews and Greeks. It seems that much of the church today is hit or miss when it comes to steadfastness and consistency in terms of the proclamation of the gospel among too much of the church there is not enough gospel being proclaimed. We need that steadfast consistency in persuading men through the preaching of the gospel. It is not success motivation, it's not self-help that will save us. It's not the proclamation of another feel-good sermon with a list of principles for our best life yet that we need. That will not save us. That will not heal our land. The kind of preaching with that kind of success has brought disaster upon us. It has rendered the church powerless and irrelevant except to herself. There is no power of salvation in such false gospels helping men feel better about themselves apart from the grace of God and the gospel of Christ is a recipe for damnation. Men need to be provoked to repentance by the power of the gospel. We need more men like the Apostle Paul men who preach sermons that either provoke men to salvation or provoke men to damnation. We do not need men who move with the wind because they have no backbone. We live among the people who want ear tickling sermons if they want a sermon at all and many people, if not most people today don't want to have anything to do with a sermon. They lay up such teachers for themselves and those with such itching ears desperately need men of God who will not only refuse to tickle their ears but preach a gospel so hot their ears will burn with the refining fire of God. In verses 5 through 7, Silas and Timothy come to Macedonia or they come from Macedonia and Paul was compelled by the spirit and he testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. 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. Paul then departed from there. His words were offensive to the Jews but their blasphemy was even more offensive to God. People often need to be offended by the truth and Paul knew God had people waiting to hear the gospel so he did not waste his time on those who refused to hear and who blasphemed God. He went to those who would hear such was a certain man named Justice, a Greek who worshipped God whose house was next to the synagogue. In other words this was the man of peace that Paul needed. In verse 8, Luke reports that Christmas the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household. Also many of the Corinthians upon hearing the gospel believed and were baptized. Paul did go to the Gentiles but Jews were still coming to faith in Christ and there was a great move of God taking place in Corinth. Many were coming to faith and being baptized and the midst of this great move of God the Lord gives divine encouragement to Paul. In verses 9 and 10 Luke reports that the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. The Lord said to him, do not be afraid but speak and 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. In verse 11 as a result of the Lord's grace and protection we're told that Paul continued there in Corinth a year and six months, a year and a half teaching the Word of God among the Corinthians. We're going to come back to verses 9, 10 and 11 and we're going to look more closely at what these verses teach us about God's providence and the importance of our focus, our worldview then and now. Luke goes on in verse 12 and 13 he records that the Jews brought Paul before the judgment seat of Gallio, the Pro-Council of Achaea. A Pro-Council was just an administrator who helped govern a province. So this was a judge, this was a man of great power and they wanted Paul, these Jews who brought Paul before the Pro-Council, they wanted Paul to be punished, they wanted him to be persecuted for his preaching of the gospel but God had promised, remember God had promised Paul that no one would attack him to harm him, to hurt him and God told Paul to not be afraid but to open his mouth and to speak and he would be safe from attack or harm and so that's exactly what Paul did. He opened his mouth and he spoke with great boldness in verses 14 and 15 as they bring Paul before Gallio, Paul is getting ready to speak but Gallio speaks before Paul is able and Gallio responds unfavorably to the Jews. He said to the Jews if it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, oh Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you but if it is a question of words and names and your own law look to it yourselves for I do not want to be a judge of such matters. In verse 16 Luke tells us after this opening statement the Pro-Council drove them from the Bema seat, the Judgment seat. It appears the Greeks in Corinth, the unbelieving Greeks took their anger out on the new ruler of the synagogue. Perhaps for the trouble they perceived the Jews were causing by trying to stir up controversy when there was nothing that rose to the level of a crime. Whatever the case we are told that these Greeks took Sastanese. They took him and they beat him. Verse 17 instead of Paul being beaten, the unbelieving Greeks took Sastanese, the ruler of the synagogue or we might say the new ruler. Remember, Christmas was the ruler but he converted to Christianity which would mean he's not the ruler of the synagogue anymore. Sastanese is now the new ruler. He's stirring up the Jews trying to get Paul persecuted and it backfires on him because God had put his protection on Paul and in God's providence he was not going to allow Paul to be persecuted in Corinth the way he had been in other cities. And so the Greeks beat Sastanese before the Judgment seat. But Luke records that gallio took no notice of these things. Sastanese likely succeeding Christmas after his conversion was stirring up the Greeks and the Jews all that he could to try to shut Paul's mouth and the Pro-Council would have been aware of all of this that was happening. And so when they begin to beat him the Pro-Council gallio takes no notice of those things. In other words, he just allowed those Greeks to beat this man. That was no doubt the favor and protection of God that Paul was told he would have as he preached the gospel. Now I want to go back to verses 19 and 11 and I want to look at God's providence, God's protection and God's plan as it's revealed to us here for the Apostle Paul. You know, I want to look at what we might be able to take from those realities in Paul's life because God still has a divine providence, a divine protection and a divine plan that he is working. We have the same working on our behalf here in our own day, in our own time, divine providence, divine protection and a divine plan. In verses 9 and 10 we're told that the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision saying, do not be afraid but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you. After preaching the gospel and Athens, after establishing believers there in that great city, Paul travels to Corinth and in many places that Paul went, he was persecuted and treated harshly due to the gospel message. Yet none of that deterred him from obeying the commission that Jesus gave him to take the gospel to the nations and make disciples. And when Paul left Athens and traveled to Corinth he had no way of knowing how he would be received. It did not matter for he was on mission and he was obeying his Lord. And we see this with Paul, it didn't matter what happened to him, it didn't matter what the dangers were, he moved forward in his obedience to the Lord. What an example for us today. So after preaching the gospel and establishing those believers coming to Corinth, not knowing the kind of reception the gospel might receive there, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, telling him, don't be afraid, speak up, no one's going to attack you, no one's going to harm you. And then God tells Paul the reason for this divine protection. God said to Paul, for I have many people in this city. The Lord gave Paul assurance that he would be able to preach and teach the gospel without fear of persecution. And the Lord assured Paul that no one would attack him and God confirmed to Paul that he had prepared for Paul many people in that city. So he gave Paul great confidence even more than he already had because God was preparing for Paul to lay a foundation in that city that would allow him and others to build on for centuries to come. The church in Corinth had many problems and we see this from the Word of God. We still possess the letters that Paul wrote to address those issues first and second Corinthians. And the issues in Corinth are not different in many ways than the issues we still face today in the church. That's the letters that have become part of the canon of scripture are still building up and teaching the church today. And we may take the words of encouragement that the Lord gave to Paul in Corinth and apply them to our own work in our own cities and communities today. The Lord said to Paul, don't be afraid. The Lord would say the same thing to us without saying it, he has given us peace and safety where we are. We're very fortunate to live in America where peace and safety generally are the rule. Yet many Christians keep silent. Many seem afraid to speak. The promise of God remains though. The Lord is with us. His promise is he will never leave us. He will never forsake us. For now we live in a free country where law and order prevail. We have no rational reason to fear. Therefore we are to preach the gospel. We are to speak. Thus we have every reason to believe and obey the Lord's command to take his gospel and to make disciples. Making disciples of the nations begins where you are right here right now. Our obedience to his commission for the church begins with each of us right where we are with our families with our friends our neighbors our communities our city and beyond. God has planted you where you are in order for you to make a difference as you proclaim the gospel in word and indeed. If your life doesn't match your words doesn't do much good because people aren't going to believe what you say they're going to believe what you do. God has prepared. God has prepared people to hear and to see with their eyes with their ears and with their eyes and we must not be afraid to open our mouth and to open our life to allow them to hear and to see the gospel. God has promised divine providence divine protection all in his divine plan. He has also promised to save the world meaning many people. God said to Paul, for I have many people in this city. God told Paul there were many people in Corinth that God had waiting. Those were people unknown to Paul but known to God. For God chose them in him before the foundation of the world. Paul affirms this in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 4 and 5 where he writes just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. All of those God had chosen in Corinth before the foundation of the world were there. They were his. God said there are my people. They're here waiting Paul. Go and speak the gospel. These waiting souls were known to God for he chose them in him having predestined them to adoption his sons according to the good pleasure of his will. This also describes you. If you are in Christ you are chosen by God. The Lord was letting Paul know that his yet unknown people were there in Corinth. They were waiting for the gospel to go forth to activate the power of God to salvation for everyone who would believe. God assured Paul he had many in Corinth who were predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. Already waiting for Paul already believing already preaching and teaching remember were Aquila and Priscilla who had come from Rome. And there were others who believed and there were others yet to believe. God had led Paul there to preach the gospel that would open their hearts to faith in Jesus Christ. The gospel does the same for us when we proclaim it. It opens the hearts of men to salvation in Christ. It is why we must proclaim it. Think about how many people God has in this city and the spears of influence he blesses you to operate in each and every day. I believe it is true that God has many people waiting to hear the gospel and they will not believe unless they hear and they cannot hear without a preacher. Perhaps you are the preacher they are waiting for. Perhaps it will be through your mouth that the gospel goes forth to bring them into the salvation that God has long prepared for them. How did God change the pagan world of old? In Paul's day Christianity was an obscure belief system that existed mainly in one small corner of the world. God changed the pagan world through the faithful preaching of the gospel, through the obedience of the church to go into disciple of the nations facing great danger and great hardship all along the way. Now this is how God will change our world today. It's how he will change our nation today through the faithful preaching of the gospel and the work of discipleship. There is no other way. Only the gospel of Christ. It's not social justice. It's not a social gospel. It's not any other gospel that can save us. It is only the true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of grace that may save us. The gospel calls us to repent of our sin. The gospel calls us to conform to the Word of God. The gospel calls us to walk in the Spirit in no longer fulfill the lust of the flesh. The gospel does not compromise the way, the truth, and the life. The gospel yokes us with Jesus Christ and proclaims him as the son of the living God. The word make flesh and the king of glory so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There are people that God has all around us waiting to hear the gospel and we do not know who they are but God does. He has placed you and he has placed me in this place for such a time as this. We must tell them, show them and lead them to Jesus. Only Christ may save them but he has chosen you to tell them and to show them and to be witness to him in the earth. Therefore do not be afraid to speak. Do not keep silent for God is with you and he has many people all around you waiting to hear. In verse 11 we see that Paul continued in Corinth for a year and six months, 18 months teaching the Word of God among the Corinthians. God kept their Paul for a relatively long time in the midst of his missionary journey. God did this for the many people he had in the city. You have been planted where you are in your city and your community among the people all around you for God's divine plan and purpose and that is that no doubt includes making known his gospel to those divinely prepared to hear. You are where you are by God's divine providence. Don't ever doubt that. As the church we are called to play the long game. We're called the faithfulness in our lifetime and to prepare the way for those who will follow. You are described as trees planted by the rivers of water, Psalm 1 3. Yet many Christians live and act more like potted plants. Never permanently planted. Never rooted where they can grow and flourish and become fruitful. Potted plants get root bound and their growth is prematurely stunted. That's not how God created or intended you to live your Christian life. You need to be planted in the good ground of Christ's church with the water of God's Word and His Spirit nourishing you. That's where you can grow and flourish and be fruitful to the glory of the Father. The work of ministry God has called us to is not only for us and for all those in our day but for our children and our children's children, even to a thousand generations. God tells us in His Word. That is another reason God wants you planted. Historically, that is how the church viewed its work in the earth. We work faithfully today, believing that our work will transfer to the work of following generations. This is how we've come to be here today. The faithfulness of men and women through the generations, through the many centuries, have brought us to where we are. Thus the work we do today will continue tomorrow. The work of one generation becomes the work of the next generation. This continuous process becomes the blessing of faithfulness that God promises to a thousand generations. When men enter into unfaithfulness, not honoring the Lord, not keeping His commandments or His covenant, He visits that iniquity to the third and fourth generation and then He cuts it off so that unfaithfulness cannot be perpetuated indefinitely. You realize that's a grace of God. Yet He shows mercy to thousands of generations, to those who love Him and keep His commandments. He perpetuates the blessings as long as men will love Him and keep His commandments. This is why in the darkest of hours, in the most bleak of situations we have hope. For those who love God and keep His commandments, we know that God will eventually cut off the unfaithful and He will cause the righteous to flourish. And we will see that as we continue to be faithful in both small and great ways, in both sweet and bitter providence, not when it's convenient or easy, but especially when it's not easy and it's not convenient. That is when we need to be consistently steadfastly faithful to the Lord. A shift in focus. We can live for the moment while ignoring the future or we can live in the moment while considering the future. The decisions we make in the moment have an impact on the future. If we live with an eye to the future, considering the generations who will come after us, it will impact how we work and build now. It will also determine in large part what we will leave for those who follow after us. If our view of the future is dim or bleak, or if we believe we have no long-term future here, it will certainly have an impact on how we live and the present. Whether we believe it will or not, consciously or subconsciously it will. It also affects the decisions we make. That has been the case with much of the church over the last two centuries. The advent of a belief that the church will be raptured out of the earth as the world gets worse and worse has resulted in a shift in focus. The focus shifted from building the kingdom of God on earth, from generation to generation, to escaping the earth and what has come to be known as the rapture. Somewhere around 200 years ago, the false doctrine of a pre-millennial pre-tribulation rapture was introduced. It became popular and many Christians lost their motivation to live and work for the generations to come, focusing instead on themselves in the moment and the soon ending of the earth, the world. Christians were taught they would not be here so wide plan for the long term. The bad habit of reading headlines and conforming scripture to current events took the place of reading the Bible and conforming our life to the whole Council of God. With every salacious headline of world events, new books, new predictions would come out and yet God's Word never changed. His good news never failed, it never wavered only our belief in it. Instead of building the kingdom of God on earth, too many in the church were waiting to escape what they believed was a coming tribulation. That escape called the rapture would happen when believers would be temporarily translated to a heavenly kingdom, not of this earth. You can certainly see how that might affect your worldview and decision-making if your focus was a temporary escape instead of an eternal city. This is what we see at the end of Revelation is the eternal city of God coming down to join the city that is here on the earth, the people of God, the church. This is God's Police, God's eternal city. Thankfully, such beliefs about end time events are beginning to be reexamined by many. Our own church went from pre-millennial dispensational view to a post-millennial understanding of scripture. Our focus shifted back to the Word of God where our lives may be conformed and shaped in Word and in Spirit and not by salacious headlines and events in the news. We must not be moved by the blips that happen in life, whether it be election cycles or even the lifespan of nations. These are blips in the grand scheme of God's plan and purpose. Current events come and go and change. Nations rise and fall, but the Word of God will never pass away and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. The gospel is working. Human history testifies to this so clearly if we'll just look at it, if we'll just read it. We must be able to see beyond the moment not only years down the road, but generations down the road. We must also look back to see from where we have come so we don't repeat the same mistakes we made in the past. By faith we must look to the future while living in the present. By faith we must pray and work and plan accordingly to see his will be done. This is why we must not be moved by the things we see or experience or endure, whether bitter or sweet. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Our work must go on and it must endure the test of time. And our work, the work of the church, will endure times test. If what we do is done in Christ, if it will endure, if it is done in obedience to His Word, if it is done in submission to His Spirit, and if it is done trusting and seeking His will to be done and not our own. Our own will gets in the way a lot of the time. I know that is true for me, myself and I. And I must and we all must learn to see our will set aside and trust in the will of the Father. That is what we must pray and seek for. His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We must seek this and do this no matter the cost. God will cut off the generations of the wicked, but He will show mercy to thousands to those who love Him and keep His commandments. And this is how we overcome through sustained, steadfast and consistent faithfulness. You have His Word and His Spirit and you know what to do. Now you must do what you know and do it faithfully in His divine providence, divine protection and divine plan in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Let us prepare to come to the Lord's table. Here is your church church. As we saw last week, the world we live in can change literally overnight. It is a reminder that heaven and earth and political parties will pass away. That's okay because they can't save us anyways. But God's Word will never pass away. God has charged you to put your trust in Him, not in the fleeting things of this world or the winds of this age before you despair or lose hope, hope and God. Look up and look unto Jesus the author and the finisher of your faith. You serve the God of resurrection. There is nothing so dead, so lost or so far gone that He cannot raise it up to new life. Don't be a spectator watching and waiting for Him to do it. You are called to get your hands in your feet dirty as you join the hard and messy work of the kingdom. God has people waiting to hear His gospel from your mouth, seen in your life. You must be prepared to go out and to do the hard and the good work of the kingdom. To see His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Do not delay but go therefore and make disciples baptizing them and teaching them to obey all He commands. Do this and God will cut off the wicked and show mercy to the righteous in our faithful humility He will heal our land. Amen.