1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,576 Hello and welcome to the Middletown Baptist Church podcast, 2 00:00:03,688 --> 00:00:06,584 where we are proclaiming the truth to the world. 3 00:00:06,672 --> 00:00:09,672 My name is Pastor Josh, and I want to thank you for listening to 4 00:00:09,696 --> 00:00:10,760 this podcast. 5 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,616 I hope that this podcast can be a blessing to you and strengthen 6 00:00:14,648 --> 00:00:16,300 you in the word of God. 7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:17,576 Now, come along. 8 00:00:17,648 --> 00:00:21,700 Let's look into the Bible and see what God has for us here today. 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,000 Well, we're in Acts, chapter 18. 10 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:27,922 If you have your Bibles turn there, it's wonderful to hear how 11 00:00:27,946 --> 00:00:29,138 God is working in your life. 12 00:00:29,194 --> 00:00:33,010 And no doubt all of us could have a testimony to give about how 13 00:00:33,050 --> 00:00:34,594 God is working in our life. 14 00:00:34,762 --> 00:00:38,994 Um, we're going to see here in Acts, chapter 18 that as a believer, 15 00:00:39,042 --> 00:00:42,450 there's going to be times where we are challenged. 16 00:00:42,610 --> 00:00:50,390 And in the challenge, we can respond in a few different ways. 17 00:00:51,050 --> 00:00:55,140 We're going to see here that in this challenge that Paul faces 18 00:00:55,220 --> 00:01:01,172 here in Corinth, he is met with the encouragement of God, and 19 00:01:01,196 --> 00:01:05,604 therefore he's enabled to move forward and to do the work of God 20 00:01:05,652 --> 00:01:10,020 here in this city that is characterized by evil. 21 00:01:10,100 --> 00:01:12,640 I remember what we talked about two weeks ago to. 22 00:01:12,940 --> 00:01:16,692 To be a Corinthian meant to live a life of debauchery, to live 23 00:01:16,716 --> 00:01:20,136 a life of paganism, to live a life of sensuality. 24 00:01:20,248 --> 00:01:23,064 And so at that time frame, there would be people talking. 25 00:01:23,192 --> 00:01:28,216 And so for them to describe someone who was evil or sensual or 26 00:01:28,288 --> 00:01:30,872 living a life of sin, they would say, that's a person being 27 00:01:30,896 --> 00:01:32,008 a Corinthian. 28 00:01:32,184 --> 00:01:35,592 And so Paul goes to this place, a place that is in opposition 29 00:01:35,656 --> 00:01:39,112 to the truth, a place that is in opposition to the holiness of 30 00:01:39,136 --> 00:01:39,624 God. 31 00:01:39,752 --> 00:01:43,320 And he is called to proclaim the truth of God to these people. 32 00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:48,162 And so verses 1 through 8 tell us that that initial story of Paul 33 00:01:48,226 --> 00:01:53,154 going there and reasoning in the synagogues and the Jews rejecting 34 00:01:53,202 --> 00:01:55,970 him, and then he preaches there to the Gentiles. 35 00:01:56,130 --> 00:01:56,450 And. 36 00:01:56,490 --> 00:02:00,322 And we see at the end of verse 8 says, and many of the Corinthians 37 00:02:00,386 --> 00:02:02,710 hearing, believed and were baptized. 38 00:02:03,130 --> 00:02:03,490 And. 39 00:02:03,530 --> 00:02:05,730 And so what does Paul preach to them? 40 00:02:05,770 --> 00:02:09,842 Well, we see in verse 5, he preached to them that Jesus was the 41 00:02:09,866 --> 00:02:10,098 Christ. 42 00:02:10,154 --> 00:02:13,402 And he testified to the Jews, he testified to the Gentiles that 43 00:02:13,426 --> 00:02:14,554 Jesus was the Christ. 44 00:02:14,642 --> 00:02:16,810 It's very similar to what we talked about this morning. 45 00:02:16,930 --> 00:02:20,730 We must preach Jesus and Jesus crucified. 46 00:02:20,810 --> 00:02:23,674 We must preach Jesus and Jesus resurrected. 47 00:02:23,722 --> 00:02:25,434 We must preach the true Jesus. 48 00:02:25,482 --> 00:02:27,306 And that's what Paul was preaching. 49 00:02:27,418 --> 00:02:31,466 He wasn't preaching man's tradition, he wasn't preaching law. 50 00:02:31,538 --> 00:02:34,986 He wasn't preaching, hey, just do this, this, and this to get yourself 51 00:02:35,018 --> 00:02:35,274 saved. 52 00:02:35,322 --> 00:02:38,094 He was preaching Jesus alone for salvation. 53 00:02:38,222 --> 00:02:40,170 And many people were upset with that. 54 00:02:40,550 --> 00:02:43,646 But the beauty is, is that when we preach the gospel, things 55 00:02:43,718 --> 00:02:44,190 change. 56 00:02:44,310 --> 00:02:47,630 When we preach the gospel, hearts are turned to Christ. 57 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:50,286 And we see at the end of verse eight, that was exactly what happened 58 00:02:50,318 --> 00:02:50,830 two weeks ago. 59 00:02:50,870 --> 00:02:54,110 We left off there with the miraculous thing that the Corinthians 60 00:02:54,190 --> 00:02:57,810 heard and believed and were baptized. 61 00:02:58,470 --> 00:03:01,290 And so we connected that to today. 62 00:03:01,750 --> 00:03:04,686 Sometimes we are tempted to think that the gospel message isn't 63 00:03:04,718 --> 00:03:05,410 effective. 64 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,576 And the reason why I say that is because really, it's not necessarily 65 00:03:09,608 --> 00:03:11,780 what we say, but it's by what we do. 66 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:16,584 And many times we don't act in the gospel or proclaim the gospel 67 00:03:16,712 --> 00:03:20,552 because we lack our trust that the gospel is still effective, that 68 00:03:20,576 --> 00:03:23,032 the gospel can truly change lives. 69 00:03:23,216 --> 00:03:26,104 Now, now, by theory, we'll all say that the gospel is powerful, 70 00:03:26,152 --> 00:03:29,816 but the way we live our lives is really, as the Bible says, ashamed 71 00:03:29,848 --> 00:03:30,520 of the gospel. 72 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,826 And Romans, chapter 1, verse 16 says that we should not be ashamed 73 00:03:33,858 --> 00:03:34,434 of the gospel. 74 00:03:34,482 --> 00:03:34,690 Why? 75 00:03:34,730 --> 00:03:36,338 Because the power to save. 76 00:03:36,514 --> 00:03:41,682 And so when we see this here, Paul is going into a place of really 77 00:03:41,786 --> 00:03:45,058 rejection to the Word, yet he proclaims the Word and we see people 78 00:03:45,114 --> 00:03:45,634 saved. 79 00:03:45,762 --> 00:03:49,746 I would tell you here tonight, here in Middletown, in Delaware, 80 00:03:49,778 --> 00:03:52,882 in the United States, in this world, if we proclaim the gospel, 81 00:03:52,946 --> 00:03:54,034 people will believe. 82 00:03:54,122 --> 00:03:55,442 Now, who is it going to be? 83 00:03:55,466 --> 00:03:55,890 I don't know. 84 00:03:55,930 --> 00:03:56,610 That's not my job. 85 00:03:56,650 --> 00:04:00,312 It's not my job to decide who is going to receive and who is not 86 00:04:00,336 --> 00:04:00,872 going to receive. 87 00:04:00,936 --> 00:04:04,360 All our job is as a believer is to proclaim. 88 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:08,312 And the Bible says that the power of the gospel, the power of 89 00:04:08,336 --> 00:04:10,664 the Spirit, will change lives, will transform lives. 90 00:04:10,752 --> 00:04:13,448 And so we know that the Corinthians were changed. 91 00:04:13,464 --> 00:04:14,680 Now, were the Corinthians perfect? 92 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:15,240 No. 93 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:16,616 They needed some discipleship. 94 00:04:16,648 --> 00:04:18,600 And we're going to talk about that here this evening. 95 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:20,680 And as we studied the Book of Acts, we. 96 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,704 We thought about this acronym, and hopefully I quoted this acronym 97 00:04:23,752 --> 00:04:24,976 enough that you can remember. 98 00:04:25,128 --> 00:04:28,912 But it's authentic church through Scripture. 99 00:04:29,056 --> 00:04:32,720 How can we be an authentic church through what the Bible has 100 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:33,856 called us to be? 101 00:04:34,008 --> 00:04:37,008 And one of those things would be to first and foremost proclaim 102 00:04:37,184 --> 00:04:41,136 the gospel in places that are opposed to the gospel. 103 00:04:41,328 --> 00:04:41,680 Right. 104 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,400 Corinth was not a place characterized by righteousness. 105 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,200 Corinth was not a place characterized by. 106 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:48,240 By holiness and. 107 00:04:48,280 --> 00:04:48,528 And. 108 00:04:48,584 --> 00:04:50,416 And honoring the God of Israel. 109 00:04:50,448 --> 00:04:53,462 There was religion there, and there's gonna be religion where we 110 00:04:53,486 --> 00:04:53,958 go. 111 00:04:54,094 --> 00:04:56,582 But the truth is, is that when we proclaim the Word, there will 112 00:04:56,606 --> 00:04:59,670 be people who believe there will be transformation happening. 113 00:04:59,750 --> 00:05:01,730 And that's what we want to see here in our community. 114 00:05:02,670 --> 00:05:03,030 As. 115 00:05:03,070 --> 00:05:07,222 As I look out into our church right now, I know that many of you 116 00:05:07,246 --> 00:05:09,206 know that there's a lot of people that are sick, right? 117 00:05:09,278 --> 00:05:10,870 It's going around, and. 118 00:05:10,910 --> 00:05:12,262 And we pray for them, and we. 119 00:05:12,286 --> 00:05:15,222 We want them to get better, maybe even, you know, cook up some 120 00:05:15,246 --> 00:05:18,400 chicken noodle soup and go over to their house and deliver that. 121 00:05:19,100 --> 00:05:19,940 But you know what? 122 00:05:19,980 --> 00:05:21,444 That's a good thing. 123 00:05:21,612 --> 00:05:24,532 But when we look out into our community, there's a. 124 00:05:24,556 --> 00:05:26,516 There's a deeper sickness. 125 00:05:26,708 --> 00:05:28,116 And that is the sickness of sin. 126 00:05:28,148 --> 00:05:30,132 And that sickness always leads to death. 127 00:05:30,316 --> 00:05:31,252 And the truth is, is. 128 00:05:31,276 --> 00:05:34,212 Are we going to have compassion upon a community? 129 00:05:34,316 --> 00:05:36,772 Are we going to have compassion upon those souls that 130 00:05:36,796 --> 00:05:39,840 are lost enough to tell them the truth about Jesus Christ? 131 00:05:40,140 --> 00:05:41,876 We see here that Paul does. 132 00:05:42,028 --> 00:05:42,708 And there is. 133 00:05:42,764 --> 00:05:44,280 There's results, there's fruit. 134 00:05:44,710 --> 00:05:46,142 And then we're gonna get to verse number nine. 135 00:05:46,166 --> 00:05:48,974 Because verse number nine really is God's special encouragement 136 00:05:49,022 --> 00:05:50,334 to Paul here in Corinth. 137 00:05:50,382 --> 00:05:54,542 Because what we can understand through what God says to Paul is 138 00:05:54,566 --> 00:05:55,970 that Paul was struggling. 139 00:05:56,310 --> 00:05:59,806 There could have been multiple reasons why Paul was struggling, 140 00:05:59,998 --> 00:06:01,630 but what do we see happen here? 141 00:06:01,670 --> 00:06:05,330 One, verse nine, then spake the Lord to Paul. 142 00:06:06,550 --> 00:06:09,540 And I think that God comes to Paul here right when he needs it. 143 00:06:09,630 --> 00:06:14,600 And if you can understand how Paul is struggling, I think you can 144 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,304 identify with him maybe to a degree and say, you know what? 145 00:06:17,312 --> 00:06:20,232 There has been times in my life when God came along right when 146 00:06:20,256 --> 00:06:21,000 I needed it. 147 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:23,384 That message was preached right when I needed it. 148 00:06:23,472 --> 00:06:25,432 That devotional was there right when I needed it. 149 00:06:25,456 --> 00:06:27,800 That song was there right when I needed it. 150 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,520 That that verse came to me right at that time. 151 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:31,112 I needed it. 152 00:06:31,136 --> 00:06:33,896 And God comes to us in that moment in comfort. 153 00:06:33,928 --> 00:06:36,692 The Bible says in Second Corinthians, chapter one, that God 154 00:06:36,756 --> 00:06:38,680 is a God of all comfort. 155 00:06:39,580 --> 00:06:42,164 And in Second Corinthians, chapter one, we see that God is a 156 00:06:42,172 --> 00:06:45,396 God of all comfort who comforts us in all of our afflictions. 157 00:06:45,508 --> 00:06:48,452 But then he gives a reason why we receive the comfort. 158 00:06:48,596 --> 00:06:52,692 We receive the comfort so that we can comfort others in time of 159 00:06:52,716 --> 00:06:53,284 need. 160 00:06:53,452 --> 00:06:56,500 And so Paul is going to be comforted by God here. 161 00:06:56,620 --> 00:06:59,540 And in so doing, Paul is then going to comfort those around him 162 00:06:59,580 --> 00:07:01,944 and their struggle that they are facing. 163 00:07:02,132 --> 00:07:04,180 And so what does God say to Paul? 164 00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:07,408 Says that he comes in the vision in the night, and he says 165 00:07:07,464 --> 00:07:08,112 this. 166 00:07:08,296 --> 00:07:10,260 Be not afraid. 167 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:14,864 So if God is telling Paul to not be afraid, what is the implication 168 00:07:14,912 --> 00:07:16,208 that he is Afraid. 169 00:07:16,384 --> 00:07:19,120 And I don't know if any of you have ever dealt with fear in your 170 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:22,704 life transparently here this evening. 171 00:07:22,752 --> 00:07:25,600 One of the struggles that I have faced in my life is the fear 172 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:30,134 of man, the fear of failure, the fear of inadequacy. 173 00:07:30,312 --> 00:07:34,010 And that fear can sometimes grip us so much to the point where 174 00:07:34,050 --> 00:07:38,442 we are petrified, meaning we cannot move, we cannot take that 175 00:07:38,466 --> 00:07:38,890 next step. 176 00:07:38,930 --> 00:07:39,274 We. 177 00:07:39,362 --> 00:07:40,250 We are silenced. 178 00:07:40,330 --> 00:07:41,562 We are limited. 179 00:07:41,706 --> 00:07:45,306 And what God is telling Paul here is, look, be not afraid. 180 00:07:45,418 --> 00:07:48,030 And then he says here, but speak. 181 00:07:48,530 --> 00:07:52,426 And so the obedience to God, the. 182 00:07:52,498 --> 00:07:52,778 The. 183 00:07:52,834 --> 00:07:57,292 The opposite of the fear would be to follow him and to proclaim. 184 00:07:57,426 --> 00:07:57,720 And. 185 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,856 And so the implication behind this message was that Paul was afraid 186 00:08:00,888 --> 00:08:04,072 of something, fearing that here in Corinth his work would be 187 00:08:04,096 --> 00:08:07,608 cut short by either the opposing Jews, the religious people 188 00:08:07,664 --> 00:08:13,816 of the day, or rejected by the highly charged worldliness of this 189 00:08:13,888 --> 00:08:15,180 area in Corinth. 190 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:19,096 And so he had faced already a culture shock in Athens. 191 00:08:19,128 --> 00:08:21,736 If you remember, he went to Athens and there was all these false 192 00:08:21,768 --> 00:08:25,346 gods lined up, and he preached that message on Mars Hill about the 193 00:08:25,498 --> 00:08:26,546 unknown God. 194 00:08:26,658 --> 00:08:31,186 And now he's coming not just to a culture shock, but here at this 195 00:08:31,258 --> 00:08:31,970 point, he. 196 00:08:32,010 --> 00:08:33,698 He is facing a. 197 00:08:33,754 --> 00:08:37,650 A really what we would call a moral shock. 198 00:08:37,810 --> 00:08:40,610 He's not used to seeing this immorality, and. 199 00:08:40,650 --> 00:08:42,210 And now he's surrounded by it. 200 00:08:42,250 --> 00:08:44,866 And sometimes when we're surrounded by evil, we're tempted 201 00:08:44,898 --> 00:08:46,770 to give up, we're tempted to give in. 202 00:08:46,810 --> 00:08:49,554 We're tempted to say that culture is winning. 203 00:08:49,602 --> 00:08:53,270 And so here we see God say, be not afraid. 204 00:08:53,770 --> 00:08:57,314 The verse that I claimed for my life a long time ago is Joshua 205 00:08:57,362 --> 00:08:58,190 1:9. 206 00:08:58,650 --> 00:08:59,266 And it talks. 207 00:08:59,298 --> 00:09:00,710 It says, be not afraid. 208 00:09:03,370 --> 00:09:05,074 Be strong and courageous. 209 00:09:05,202 --> 00:09:07,378 Be not afraid, for the Lord thy God is with thee. 210 00:09:07,394 --> 00:09:08,870 Withersoever thou goest. 211 00:09:09,210 --> 00:09:13,506 The same reminder that God gave Joshua is the same reminder 212 00:09:13,538 --> 00:09:15,410 that God is giving Paul here. 213 00:09:15,530 --> 00:09:18,098 And it's the same reminder that he gave all of us In Hebrews 214 00:09:18,114 --> 00:09:21,186 chapter 13, when he says, I will never leave you nor forsake 215 00:09:21,218 --> 00:09:21,790 you. 216 00:09:22,490 --> 00:09:25,490 And the truth is, is that the moments that we come to a place of 217 00:09:25,530 --> 00:09:27,666 fear in our lives, there is a response. 218 00:09:27,698 --> 00:09:29,778 And that response can be fight. 219 00:09:29,914 --> 00:09:32,578 We can fight God on an issue, or we can. 220 00:09:32,714 --> 00:09:36,866 We can flee away, or we can find God in faith. 221 00:09:37,058 --> 00:09:40,242 And so what we see here in this case is that God tells Paul 222 00:09:40,306 --> 00:09:46,162 the remedy to your fear, the solution to your fear was for Paul 223 00:09:46,226 --> 00:09:51,046 to obey Jesus command to not be afraid and to proclaim, to speak 224 00:09:51,078 --> 00:09:52,650 and not be silent. 225 00:09:52,990 --> 00:09:55,526 Paul could have been tempted to leave Paul could have been tempted 226 00:09:55,558 --> 00:09:56,150 to stop. 227 00:09:56,270 --> 00:09:58,246 He could have been tempted to be silent. 228 00:09:58,278 --> 00:10:01,462 But yet God said to speak the opposite of probably what he was 229 00:10:01,486 --> 00:10:02,850 feeling to do at that point. 230 00:10:03,630 --> 00:10:06,310 And, and I would tell you here at this case in your life, you, you 231 00:10:06,350 --> 00:10:10,530 might have faced a time where you were fearing something. 232 00:10:11,390 --> 00:10:16,880 And the remedy to that fear is not just become more brave, get stronger. 233 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,432 The remedy to your fear is to face it with faith. 234 00:10:20,576 --> 00:10:22,768 The remedy to your fear is to obey God. 235 00:10:22,784 --> 00:10:26,640 The remedy to the fear is to trust in what his word says, to go 236 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:28,300 back to what we know. 237 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:30,192 I. 238 00:10:30,216 --> 00:10:31,856 I don't know about any of you that. 239 00:10:32,008 --> 00:10:34,944 Speaking of my kids, brother Sam, you know, I don't know if any 240 00:10:34,952 --> 00:10:36,832 of you ever had to deal with your children being scared of the 241 00:10:36,856 --> 00:10:39,792 dark or scared of monsters under their bed or in the closet, 242 00:10:39,856 --> 00:10:40,176 right? 243 00:10:40,248 --> 00:10:42,800 And I had to go, you know, remind them, guys, that's not real. 244 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:43,232 That's not. 245 00:10:43,256 --> 00:10:44,516 That's not true, right? 246 00:10:44,648 --> 00:10:45,388 Dad is here. 247 00:10:45,444 --> 00:10:47,580 There's nothing here where everything's okay. 248 00:10:47,660 --> 00:10:49,324 We have to remind them of reality. 249 00:10:49,372 --> 00:10:51,100 We have to remind them of the truth. 250 00:10:51,180 --> 00:10:54,220 We have to remind them that there isn't anything to fear. 251 00:10:54,300 --> 00:10:56,476 That's the same thing that happens for us as believers. 252 00:10:56,508 --> 00:10:58,876 Sometimes we start to think about all those things that aren't 253 00:10:58,908 --> 00:11:00,588 there and we begin to doubt. 254 00:11:00,684 --> 00:11:02,652 And maybe we're fearful of things that are there. 255 00:11:02,676 --> 00:11:04,476 But yet God says, I've got you. 256 00:11:04,548 --> 00:11:05,800 I'm protecting you. 257 00:11:06,100 --> 00:11:07,036 You're in my grip. 258 00:11:07,068 --> 00:11:08,220 And that's what he tells Paul next. 259 00:11:08,260 --> 00:11:12,156 He says, don't be afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace, meaning, 260 00:11:12,188 --> 00:11:13,120 don't be silent. 261 00:11:13,950 --> 00:11:15,542 And so get the word of God out. 262 00:11:15,566 --> 00:11:16,102 That's what he's saying. 263 00:11:16,126 --> 00:11:18,326 He's not saying, paul, talk more, right? 264 00:11:18,398 --> 00:11:18,790 That's. 265 00:11:18,870 --> 00:11:19,782 That's not what he's saying here. 266 00:11:19,806 --> 00:11:21,974 He's not saying, hey, be more of a talkative person. 267 00:11:22,062 --> 00:11:25,254 He's saying, paul, proclaim the word of God more. 268 00:11:25,422 --> 00:11:27,926 Don't allow your fear to silence you. 269 00:11:28,078 --> 00:11:31,654 And I would say for a church and for the individuals that comprise 270 00:11:31,702 --> 00:11:35,542 the church, when we are tempted to fear and to be silent, 271 00:11:35,606 --> 00:11:37,990 God says no, to proclaim to. 272 00:11:38,030 --> 00:11:38,230 To. 273 00:11:38,270 --> 00:11:39,790 To proclaim the word of God. 274 00:11:39,910 --> 00:11:43,806 Don't be afraid to say what the truth is. 275 00:11:43,878 --> 00:11:47,342 Don't be afraid to tell people why you have the hope that you have. 276 00:11:47,446 --> 00:11:48,910 The Bible even says that. 277 00:11:49,030 --> 00:11:53,614 The Bible says in the New Testament, be ready to give an answer 278 00:11:53,742 --> 00:11:56,110 for those who are asking the reason of hope within you. 279 00:11:56,150 --> 00:11:56,494 Right? 280 00:11:56,582 --> 00:11:56,830 With. 281 00:11:56,870 --> 00:11:58,990 With gentleness and respect, with meekness and fear. 282 00:11:59,070 --> 00:12:02,110 And so what we see here in the Book of acts is that Paul is being 283 00:12:02,150 --> 00:12:04,782 encouraged by God, comforted by God. 284 00:12:04,926 --> 00:12:10,414 Really what we would say is exhorted by God to move to his ministry 285 00:12:10,462 --> 00:12:12,290 of proclaiming the word. 286 00:12:13,830 --> 00:12:17,166 And then he gives him a reason why he doesn't need to be afraid, 287 00:12:17,358 --> 00:12:19,934 for I am with. 288 00:12:20,102 --> 00:12:21,730 It's the presence of God. 289 00:12:22,310 --> 00:12:25,342 It's the presence of God in his life that reminds him that he 290 00:12:25,366 --> 00:12:26,926 is not alone in this endeavor. 291 00:12:26,958 --> 00:12:30,878 Even though he had Silas, even though he had Timothy, even though 292 00:12:30,934 --> 00:12:34,484 he had others around him, the temptation for Paul was probably 293 00:12:34,532 --> 00:12:37,572 to think that he was alone, that nobody was there, no one had 294 00:12:37,596 --> 00:12:38,404 his back. 295 00:12:38,572 --> 00:12:41,044 And you might have had that temptation in your life. 296 00:12:41,132 --> 00:12:44,148 You might have been surrounded by people, but yet you feel alone, 297 00:12:44,324 --> 00:12:45,720 you feel isolated. 298 00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:46,820 I. 299 00:12:46,860 --> 00:12:51,572 I can tell you that for whatever reason, ministry serving 300 00:12:51,636 --> 00:12:55,720 God can allow you to get to a place of feeling isolated. 301 00:12:56,380 --> 00:12:58,042 You could feel lonely. 302 00:12:58,236 --> 00:13:00,206 You can look around you and say, well, look at me. 303 00:13:00,278 --> 00:13:01,262 I'm trying to do something. 304 00:13:01,286 --> 00:13:03,582 But it doesn't seem like anyone else is on board with me. 305 00:13:03,686 --> 00:13:06,250 It actually seems like sometimes people are against me. 306 00:13:06,550 --> 00:13:09,262 Yet God says, hey, it doesn't matter if everyone's against you. 307 00:13:09,286 --> 00:13:10,126 I'm for you. 308 00:13:10,198 --> 00:13:11,230 I'm with you. 309 00:13:11,350 --> 00:13:13,934 So it's a reminder of the presence of God. 310 00:13:14,062 --> 00:13:19,614 And really we see it in a few different ways as God reminds Paul 311 00:13:19,662 --> 00:13:20,414 of his presence. 312 00:13:20,462 --> 00:13:23,006 He's reminding him, yes, of his presence, but he's reminding 313 00:13:23,038 --> 00:13:24,370 him of his compassion. 314 00:13:24,670 --> 00:13:26,950 He says, paul, there's a lot of people here that are not having 315 00:13:26,990 --> 00:13:29,970 compassion for you, but I have compassion for you. 316 00:13:30,270 --> 00:13:36,342 Um, he's reminding him of his cooperation with Paul. 317 00:13:36,406 --> 00:13:37,718 Like how I'm working with you. 318 00:13:37,774 --> 00:13:38,006 I'm. 319 00:13:38,038 --> 00:13:39,142 I'm in this with you. 320 00:13:39,166 --> 00:13:41,270 It's my word that you are proclaiming. 321 00:13:41,350 --> 00:13:43,590 It's my power that you're tapping into. 322 00:13:43,710 --> 00:13:45,810 It's my direction that you are following. 323 00:13:46,270 --> 00:13:49,848 And so in this case, Paul is reminded of the presence of God. 324 00:13:49,934 --> 00:13:52,484 And sometimes we need to be reminded of the presence of God. 325 00:13:52,532 --> 00:13:55,440 Remember that he will never leave us nor forsake us. 326 00:13:57,020 --> 00:14:02,068 And when we rest in the presence of God and we claim the 327 00:14:02,124 --> 00:14:04,580 power of God, the Bible says in Philippians chapter 4. 328 00:14:04,620 --> 00:14:07,876 We mentioned it this morning, that the peace of God, which passeth 329 00:14:07,908 --> 00:14:10,212 all understanding, can rule our hearts and our minds. 330 00:14:10,356 --> 00:14:11,540 And I think that's important to. 331 00:14:11,580 --> 00:14:12,612 To remind ourselves of. 332 00:14:12,636 --> 00:14:16,120 Because sometimes the struggle is in our hearts. 333 00:14:16,770 --> 00:14:20,266 We know the right thing, but our hearts tell us something else. 334 00:14:20,298 --> 00:14:22,234 Our emotions tell us something else. 335 00:14:22,362 --> 00:14:22,650 Like. 336 00:14:22,690 --> 00:14:25,482 Like, I know that God is with me, but I'm not feeling it right 337 00:14:25,506 --> 00:14:25,834 now. 338 00:14:25,922 --> 00:14:26,266 I. 339 00:14:26,338 --> 00:14:28,282 I don't feel like he loves me. 340 00:14:28,306 --> 00:14:30,154 I don't feel like he's blessing me. 341 00:14:30,242 --> 00:14:33,242 And so when we allow the presence of God and the power of 342 00:14:33,266 --> 00:14:36,922 God to rule in our life, we can have the peace of God that rules 343 00:14:36,986 --> 00:14:39,098 our hearts and our minds. 344 00:14:39,194 --> 00:14:42,140 Sometimes our emotions are right, but our minds are off. 345 00:14:42,250 --> 00:14:44,600 Our truth is off about what the word of God says. 346 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,624 And so what the Bible tells us here in this case is that the peace 347 00:14:47,672 --> 00:14:51,720 of God protects our hearts and our minds to the sense that we are 348 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,968 able to rightly divide the word and rightly fight against this 349 00:14:57,024 --> 00:15:00,260 fear that Satan is trying to put into our life. 350 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,016 Be careful or anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer 351 00:15:05,048 --> 00:15:07,352 and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be 352 00:15:07,376 --> 00:15:08,610 made known unto God. 353 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,254 The Bible says there's a lot of reasons that we can come to a 354 00:15:12,262 --> 00:15:15,310 place in our life and look at the circumstances and question it 355 00:15:15,350 --> 00:15:19,838 and have anxiety and have fear and have apprehension, or we can 356 00:15:19,894 --> 00:15:23,246 face God and we can turn to him and we can say, lord, I'm trusting 357 00:15:23,278 --> 00:15:23,806 in you. 358 00:15:23,878 --> 00:15:25,134 I'm asking you for guidance. 359 00:15:25,182 --> 00:15:26,430 I'm asking you for clarity. 360 00:15:26,510 --> 00:15:28,974 I'm asking you for peace, I'm asking you for power. 361 00:15:29,062 --> 00:15:30,734 And I'm resting in your presence. 362 00:15:30,782 --> 00:15:33,486 That's exactly what Paul is being reminded of here. 363 00:15:33,558 --> 00:15:39,754 It says, I and with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt 364 00:15:39,802 --> 00:15:40,430 thee. 365 00:15:41,330 --> 00:15:42,042 Now that's a. 366 00:15:42,066 --> 00:15:45,750 Interesting thing that God says here because he doesn't say 367 00:15:46,850 --> 00:15:51,274 that no man is gonna, that no one's gonna like, hey, this is, this 368 00:15:51,282 --> 00:15:52,426 is what he's basically telling him. 369 00:15:52,498 --> 00:15:54,298 There's gonna be people that come after you, but they're not gonna 370 00:15:54,314 --> 00:15:55,110 hurt you. 371 00:15:56,210 --> 00:16:01,298 Now, now we know that Paul has people come after him and hurt him. 372 00:16:01,434 --> 00:16:02,930 So, so what is he talking about here? 373 00:16:02,970 --> 00:16:08,430 Well, I think of what Matthew, chapter 10, verse 28 says. 374 00:16:08,810 --> 00:16:11,570 And, and I think that so many times in our life the fear of man 375 00:16:11,610 --> 00:16:14,258 grips us so much to. 376 00:16:14,314 --> 00:16:18,018 To the place where we fear man more than we fear God. 377 00:16:18,194 --> 00:16:23,282 Matthew chapter 10, verse 28 says this. 378 00:16:23,386 --> 00:16:28,022 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill 379 00:16:28,046 --> 00:16:32,150 the soul, but rather fear him which is able to destroy both the 380 00:16:32,190 --> 00:16:35,130 soul and body in hell. 381 00:16:36,110 --> 00:16:39,990 And so what we can see here in this case is God is warning Paul 382 00:16:40,070 --> 00:16:43,970 to not be gripped by the fear of man. 383 00:16:44,430 --> 00:16:48,310 Why fear someone that can hurt your body when they can't take your 384 00:16:48,350 --> 00:16:48,970 soul? 385 00:16:49,470 --> 00:16:51,238 God is in control of our lives. 386 00:16:51,294 --> 00:16:54,614 And certainly there's times in our life where we might feel oppressed, 387 00:16:54,662 --> 00:16:58,278 we might feel in pain, we might even feel persecuted. 388 00:16:58,374 --> 00:17:00,822 But yet what God is saying here is that don't allow that to 389 00:17:00,846 --> 00:17:01,030 happen. 390 00:17:01,070 --> 00:17:02,086 There's a promise here. 391 00:17:02,158 --> 00:17:04,662 There's a promise that there will people that come against you, 392 00:17:04,686 --> 00:17:05,862 but no one can hurt you. 393 00:17:05,966 --> 00:17:08,422 For I have much people in this city. 394 00:17:08,606 --> 00:17:11,350 And so the promise here is that your, your job is not over with 395 00:17:11,390 --> 00:17:11,878 yet. 396 00:17:12,014 --> 00:17:15,030 There, there's still a purpose for your life there. 397 00:17:15,070 --> 00:17:19,638 There is still an opportunity for you to be used by me. 398 00:17:19,694 --> 00:17:22,468 And so therefore, what is Paul to do? 399 00:17:22,524 --> 00:17:26,596 Paul is to continue to proclaim the Word, to not allow fear 400 00:17:26,708 --> 00:17:27,840 to grip him. 401 00:17:28,380 --> 00:17:32,292 And so I, I, I always tell people this and, and I can't necessarily 402 00:17:32,356 --> 00:17:35,700 point you to chapter and verse on this, but if you're taking in 403 00:17:35,740 --> 00:17:38,964 breath, I think the reasonable response is that God still has a 404 00:17:38,972 --> 00:17:40,132 plan for your life. 405 00:17:40,316 --> 00:17:40,900 Right? 406 00:17:41,020 --> 00:17:43,840 God knows when our time is up. 407 00:17:44,140 --> 00:17:46,266 And when our time is up, our time is up. 408 00:17:46,388 --> 00:17:50,494 Uh, but if you're here and you're alive, which I think all of 409 00:17:50,502 --> 00:17:53,530 you are, there's a purpose for your life. 410 00:17:54,070 --> 00:17:55,758 And that's what he's telling Paul here. 411 00:17:55,814 --> 00:18:01,710 Hey, look, rest in my presence because of the purpose that I have 412 00:18:01,750 --> 00:18:02,494 for you. 413 00:18:02,662 --> 00:18:05,086 Don't worry about what people are gonna do to you. 414 00:18:05,238 --> 00:18:06,622 He says, I, I, I'm with you. 415 00:18:06,646 --> 00:18:10,286 And, and so this additional promise to him was, hey, there's 416 00:18:10,318 --> 00:18:12,446 not gonna be anyone that can hurt you. 417 00:18:12,518 --> 00:18:15,142 There's no, there's not gonna be anyone that can stop this work 418 00:18:15,166 --> 00:18:16,370 that I have for you. 419 00:18:17,230 --> 00:18:20,422 And the other promise was that, hey, you know what? 420 00:18:20,606 --> 00:18:22,438 There are still people in need. 421 00:18:22,574 --> 00:18:25,730 He says, I, I, for I have much people in this city. 422 00:18:26,990 --> 00:18:30,950 Maybe Paul has some doubts about the survival and the health 423 00:18:30,990 --> 00:18:31,974 of the Corinthian Church. 424 00:18:32,022 --> 00:18:36,710 Maybe Paul, maybe it wasn't a struggle of fearing the attack of 425 00:18:36,750 --> 00:18:37,430 the Corinthians. 426 00:18:37,510 --> 00:18:39,970 Maybe it was a fear that this isn't worth it. 427 00:18:41,010 --> 00:18:44,266 What I'm doing maybe isn't even resonating with these people. 428 00:18:44,418 --> 00:18:45,498 Look at what they're doing. 429 00:18:45,554 --> 00:18:46,666 Look at how they're worshiping. 430 00:18:46,698 --> 00:18:47,402 Is it even worth it? 431 00:18:47,426 --> 00:18:48,346 I'm just going to move on. 432 00:18:48,418 --> 00:18:51,390 God says no, I have a purpose for the Corinthian church. 433 00:18:52,130 --> 00:18:54,666 Most of you have read 1st and 2nd Corinthians. 434 00:18:54,858 --> 00:18:56,778 Some of you get to go to the Greece trip. 435 00:18:56,794 --> 00:18:57,978 You're going to see Corinth. 436 00:18:58,074 --> 00:19:00,122 God had a lot of plans for Corinth. 437 00:19:00,186 --> 00:19:02,170 God had a lot of plans for that church. 438 00:19:02,330 --> 00:19:06,070 And so Paul is challenged to stay on track. 439 00:19:07,670 --> 00:19:12,462 I quoted this verse to someone here this week, and it's, it was 440 00:19:12,486 --> 00:19:13,310 actually interesting. 441 00:19:13,390 --> 00:19:15,650 You, you know, it's amazing how God works. 442 00:19:16,630 --> 00:19:22,462 I was struggling with a few things recently, and Galatians chapter 443 00:19:22,526 --> 00:19:24,650 6, verse 9 came to mind. 444 00:19:25,910 --> 00:19:29,022 And let us not be weary and well doing, for in due season we 445 00:19:29,046 --> 00:19:29,534 shall reap. 446 00:19:29,582 --> 00:19:31,290 If we faint not. 447 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:34,952 Then I had someone come in talking to me, and they said, you 448 00:19:34,976 --> 00:19:35,240 know what? 449 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:35,688 I just. 450 00:19:35,744 --> 00:19:38,280 I just don't feel like I can continue on. 451 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:39,560 I don't feel like I can do this. 452 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:40,024 And you know what? 453 00:19:40,032 --> 00:19:42,024 I thought of that verse, and I said, hey, let me tell you something. 454 00:19:42,112 --> 00:19:43,448 This is not an accident. 455 00:19:43,544 --> 00:19:45,802 God has just been working in my heart about Galatians 6. 456 00:19:45,845 --> 00:19:46,040 9. 457 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:48,456 I want to write this verse down for you, and I want you to commit 458 00:19:48,488 --> 00:19:49,496 this to memory. 459 00:19:49,608 --> 00:19:50,760 And I think that's all of us. 460 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,067 In some way, we need to be reminded of Galatians 6. 461 00:19:53,124 --> 00:19:53,384 9. 462 00:19:53,472 --> 00:19:56,488 Don't get weary and well doing, for in due season we shall 463 00:19:56,504 --> 00:19:56,696 reap. 464 00:19:56,728 --> 00:19:59,040 If we faint not, it's worth it. 465 00:19:59,160 --> 00:20:01,900 Go to the end of First Corinthians 15. 466 00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:03,456 Man, this. 467 00:20:03,528 --> 00:20:03,808 If. 468 00:20:03,864 --> 00:20:04,080 If. 469 00:20:04,120 --> 00:20:04,940 You know what? 470 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:06,496 Some of you. 471 00:20:06,648 --> 00:20:09,060 I got to use you guys as an analogy. 472 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:13,104 When I was in West Virginia, I was talking about getting excited 473 00:20:13,152 --> 00:20:15,152 for the Lord, and I said, you know, we have some people in our 474 00:20:15,176 --> 00:20:17,952 church that were really excited a few weeks ago when the 475 00:20:17,976 --> 00:20:19,168 Eagles won the super bowl. 476 00:20:19,184 --> 00:20:19,952 And they were like. 477 00:20:20,056 --> 00:20:21,936 Because they were all West Virginia Mountaineers fans. 478 00:20:21,968 --> 00:20:23,720 They had nothing about the Eagles. 479 00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:25,368 Um, but. 480 00:20:25,424 --> 00:20:27,656 But I say, you know, we got excited here, and. 481 00:20:27,728 --> 00:20:30,200 And if you can't get excited about the verse I'm about to read 482 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,752 you, I don't know what will make you excited, but at the end 483 00:20:33,776 --> 00:20:38,312 of First Corinthians, chapter 15, we could start at. 484 00:20:38,336 --> 00:20:38,776 Well, let's. 485 00:20:38,808 --> 00:20:39,432 Let's start. 486 00:20:39,536 --> 00:20:42,664 I mean, you could start in the whole chapter, but let's go to verse 487 00:20:42,712 --> 00:20:43,080 56. 488 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:46,072 He says, the sting of death is sin, and the strength is in sin is 489 00:20:46,096 --> 00:20:46,664 in the law. 490 00:20:46,752 --> 00:20:49,832 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our 491 00:20:49,856 --> 00:20:51,060 Lord Jesus Christ. 492 00:20:51,510 --> 00:20:55,870 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, 493 00:20:55,950 --> 00:20:57,950 always abounding in the work of the Lord. 494 00:20:58,030 --> 00:21:01,342 For as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the 495 00:21:01,366 --> 00:21:07,022 Lord, it's a reminder that because of Jesus conquering death, 496 00:21:07,126 --> 00:21:12,350 and because of him extending everlasting life to us, we can know 497 00:21:12,470 --> 00:21:16,770 that our labor for him in Christ is not in vain. 498 00:21:17,140 --> 00:21:20,796 Even if it feels like it's a waste, even if it feels like it's 499 00:21:20,828 --> 00:21:23,612 worthless, even if it feels like it's not resonating, there is 500 00:21:23,636 --> 00:21:27,164 a promise of God here that we can go back and not be Weary and 501 00:21:27,172 --> 00:21:30,252 well doing to know that our work is not in vain if it's done 502 00:21:30,276 --> 00:21:30,988 in the Lord. 503 00:21:31,084 --> 00:21:33,932 And so therefore, that is what Paul is being reminded of here at 504 00:21:33,956 --> 00:21:35,920 the end of his second missionary journey. 505 00:21:36,420 --> 00:21:38,924 I go back and see Paul as a superhero sometimes. 506 00:21:38,972 --> 00:21:40,108 Sometimes I'm guilty of that. 507 00:21:40,164 --> 00:21:42,620 Sometimes I'm guilty of going back and saying, man, Paul was just 508 00:21:42,660 --> 00:21:46,200 this amazing guy that got up in front of thousands of people and 509 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:47,464 was strong and was powerful. 510 00:21:47,512 --> 00:21:49,944 But if you read the description in First Corinthians 511 00:21:49,992 --> 00:21:53,416 about Paul's preaching, he was, he was broken, he was, he was 512 00:21:53,488 --> 00:21:53,992 trembling. 513 00:21:54,056 --> 00:21:57,192 He, he had a sin that so easily beset him. 514 00:21:57,216 --> 00:21:58,584 He had a thorn in his flesh. 515 00:21:58,632 --> 00:22:01,336 There was a lot of things that Paul struggled with, but yet he pushed 516 00:22:01,368 --> 00:22:01,896 forward. 517 00:22:02,048 --> 00:22:05,000 And so, so, so we can't look at Paul and go, well, well, I'm not 518 00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:06,152 a Paul, right? 519 00:22:06,256 --> 00:22:08,590 So of course I'm going to feel a different way. 520 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,990 Paul struggled with the same things we struggle with. 521 00:22:11,290 --> 00:22:13,750 But Paul felt oppression. 522 00:22:14,410 --> 00:22:16,226 Paul felt rejection. 523 00:22:16,418 --> 00:22:20,002 But yet in this case, God encourages him and reminds him to 524 00:22:20,026 --> 00:22:20,950 stay faithful. 525 00:22:21,690 --> 00:22:24,354 So he says, for I have much people in the city, so what does 526 00:22:24,362 --> 00:22:24,786 he do? 527 00:22:24,858 --> 00:22:29,202 Paul has a response which is an obedient response which we should 528 00:22:29,226 --> 00:22:30,370 all respond in says. 529 00:22:30,410 --> 00:22:33,746 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the Word 530 00:22:33,778 --> 00:22:35,070 of God among them. 531 00:22:36,060 --> 00:22:39,556 Now, it would be very easy to gloss over. 532 00:22:39,628 --> 00:22:42,100 That last verse kind of seems like a summary. 533 00:22:42,260 --> 00:22:44,868 And I did, the first time I read through it, I just said, okay, 534 00:22:44,964 --> 00:22:46,916 God spoke to him, encouraged him. 535 00:22:46,988 --> 00:22:49,524 And then, then, you know, then it describes what he did for the 536 00:22:49,532 --> 00:22:50,260 next year and a half. 537 00:22:50,300 --> 00:22:55,956 But Paul was in Corinth longer than pretty much all the other places 538 00:22:55,988 --> 00:22:56,960 that he went to. 539 00:22:57,660 --> 00:23:00,676 It seems to be longer than any other city where he founded a church. 540 00:23:00,708 --> 00:23:04,080 And his ministry at Corinth was described this way. 541 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:07,472 If, if, if he could have a summary of his year and a half, what 542 00:23:07,496 --> 00:23:07,888 was it? 543 00:23:07,944 --> 00:23:12,832 It says, it right there, says that he was teaching the Word of 544 00:23:12,856 --> 00:23:14,220 God among them. 545 00:23:14,840 --> 00:23:20,304 I, I believe that that is the most important ministry a church 546 00:23:20,352 --> 00:23:21,232 can have. 547 00:23:21,416 --> 00:23:23,760 Obviously it's outreach, but in reach. 548 00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,792 What's the most important ministry? 549 00:23:25,936 --> 00:23:27,850 The teaching of the Word of God. 550 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:29,702 It must be the centerpiece. 551 00:23:29,846 --> 00:23:30,454 It doesn't. 552 00:23:30,502 --> 00:23:35,574 It, I mean, maybe I'm wrong about this and maybe I'm reading 553 00:23:35,622 --> 00:23:41,622 too far into this, but, but it doesn't say, you know, they were 554 00:23:41,646 --> 00:23:42,022 having. 555 00:23:42,126 --> 00:23:43,318 Not that they didn't have potlucks. 556 00:23:43,334 --> 00:23:46,726 I'm sure they had potlucks, but that wasn't what was characterized 557 00:23:46,758 --> 00:23:48,966 by the year and a half, the year and a half was the preaching 558 00:23:48,998 --> 00:23:49,702 of God's word. 559 00:23:49,766 --> 00:23:53,450 And so what I see there is, obviously Paul has a heart for evangelism, 560 00:23:53,590 --> 00:23:56,070 but Paul has a heart for discipleship. 561 00:23:57,290 --> 00:24:00,322 The duration of Paul's stay here in Corinth shows that he had 562 00:24:00,346 --> 00:24:01,506 a heart for ministry. 563 00:24:01,618 --> 00:24:03,810 He wasn't an in and out guy. 564 00:24:03,970 --> 00:24:04,290 You. 565 00:24:04,330 --> 00:24:06,802 You've ever heard of people that come in for a weekend, they 566 00:24:06,826 --> 00:24:09,430 drop a bomb and they leave the mess for the pastor. 567 00:24:10,890 --> 00:24:11,394 Paul. 568 00:24:11,442 --> 00:24:13,890 Paul was invested into the Church of Corinth. 569 00:24:14,050 --> 00:24:18,390 And sometimes church, authentic church, can be messy. 570 00:24:18,980 --> 00:24:19,292 I. 571 00:24:19,316 --> 00:24:21,676 I wish I could tell you that everything was easy in a church. 572 00:24:21,708 --> 00:24:23,660 I wish I could tell you that everyone's life was perfect. 573 00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:26,092 I wish I could tell you that everyone agrees with everything that 574 00:24:26,116 --> 00:24:26,556 we say. 575 00:24:26,628 --> 00:24:29,676 And I wish I could tell you that ministry is easy, but ministry 576 00:24:29,708 --> 00:24:30,524 is messy. 577 00:24:30,652 --> 00:24:32,652 If we do it right, it's difficult. 578 00:24:32,796 --> 00:24:35,960 If we lead people to Christ, we've got to disciple them. 579 00:24:36,580 --> 00:24:38,972 And as we disciple them, we have to redisciple them. 580 00:24:38,996 --> 00:24:41,324 And sometimes I have to be discipled, and sometimes I have to 581 00:24:41,332 --> 00:24:43,580 be exhorted, and sometimes I have to be edified. 582 00:24:43,660 --> 00:24:46,966 And it goes on and on and on, and it's never ending. 583 00:24:46,998 --> 00:24:50,182 And so Paul stays here for a year and a half and teaching them 584 00:24:50,206 --> 00:24:50,806 the Word. 585 00:24:50,918 --> 00:24:51,430 You know what? 586 00:24:51,470 --> 00:24:52,934 It's so important to know the Word. 587 00:24:52,982 --> 00:24:53,238 Why? 588 00:24:53,294 --> 00:24:57,222 Because when that messiness happens, we have to go back to the 589 00:24:57,246 --> 00:24:57,850 Word. 590 00:24:58,350 --> 00:25:00,854 We can't go to what culture tells us. 591 00:25:01,022 --> 00:25:04,934 Let's say a husband and wife come up to me and they say, hey, 592 00:25:04,982 --> 00:25:05,766 you know what? 593 00:25:05,918 --> 00:25:09,510 I can't stand looking at my spouse and I can't be with them anymore. 594 00:25:09,670 --> 00:25:10,710 They're frustrating me. 595 00:25:10,750 --> 00:25:13,672 They're doing everything that I said that I wouldn't be with. 596 00:25:13,776 --> 00:25:17,832 And I go, well, you know what I was watching on TV a little while 597 00:25:17,856 --> 00:25:17,992 back? 598 00:25:18,016 --> 00:25:18,920 You know, you should trade in. 599 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:19,352 Go up. 600 00:25:19,376 --> 00:25:21,016 Go try, you know, try to get better. 601 00:25:21,088 --> 00:25:21,464 Right? 602 00:25:21,552 --> 00:25:22,424 No, that's terrible. 603 00:25:22,472 --> 00:25:22,824 That's. 604 00:25:22,872 --> 00:25:24,152 But that's the worldly culture. 605 00:25:24,216 --> 00:25:25,896 Worldly culture says, get. 606 00:25:25,968 --> 00:25:29,180 Get what you can when you can, and, hey, enjoy yourself. 607 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:30,712 But what do we have to do? 608 00:25:30,736 --> 00:25:32,408 We have to go back to the Word of God. 609 00:25:32,584 --> 00:25:42,002 Counseling and fellowship and edification and teaching has to be 610 00:25:42,026 --> 00:25:45,990 based, as we see here, in what Paul says in the Word of God. 611 00:25:47,370 --> 00:25:50,402 And so he continued there a year and six months, teaching the 612 00:25:50,426 --> 00:25:52,030 Word of God among them. 613 00:25:53,290 --> 00:25:54,018 And so I. 614 00:25:54,074 --> 00:25:56,354 I think that he was committed. 615 00:25:56,402 --> 00:26:00,690 He was a man committed to making disciples there in Corinth. 616 00:26:00,850 --> 00:26:05,920 And I think that we should be a church committed to making disciples. 617 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:12,092 I have A pastor friend that says, there are some churches that 618 00:26:12,116 --> 00:26:14,588 are only focused on nickels and noses. 619 00:26:14,764 --> 00:26:16,236 I was like, what, what is he talking about? 620 00:26:16,308 --> 00:26:17,916 He's talking about nickels. 621 00:26:18,108 --> 00:26:18,412 What? 622 00:26:18,436 --> 00:26:20,988 They're giving noses people in the pews. 623 00:26:21,084 --> 00:26:24,700 Okay, folks, if we are a church that's just worried about 624 00:26:24,740 --> 00:26:28,172 the bottom line, and we're a church just worried about how many 625 00:26:28,196 --> 00:26:30,524 people are in the pews, we're not doing the work of the ministry. 626 00:26:30,572 --> 00:26:32,004 That's not authentic church. 627 00:26:32,172 --> 00:26:35,332 Authentic church is creating disciples. 628 00:26:35,396 --> 00:26:36,164 What's a disciple? 629 00:26:36,212 --> 00:26:39,280 A disciple is a committed follower of Christ. 630 00:26:40,780 --> 00:26:46,756 If I am too busy to disciple my fellow brother, I am too busy 631 00:26:46,868 --> 00:26:47,652 in the ministry. 632 00:26:47,716 --> 00:26:49,588 I'm too busy in my own work. 633 00:26:49,644 --> 00:26:53,360 I must be willing to say it's the people and not the program. 634 00:26:53,980 --> 00:26:57,012 So easy to get into the machine of church that we miss out 635 00:26:57,036 --> 00:27:00,586 on the individual person that needs that discipleship. 636 00:27:00,698 --> 00:27:02,030 I've been that busy. 637 00:27:02,370 --> 00:27:05,946 Pastor Spice, some of you remember Pastor Spicer, a great, 638 00:27:06,018 --> 00:27:06,538 great man. 639 00:27:06,594 --> 00:27:08,270 I love Pastor Spicer. 640 00:27:08,770 --> 00:27:09,786 He had this sermon. 641 00:27:09,818 --> 00:27:12,986 He, he talked about God's interruptions. 642 00:27:13,178 --> 00:27:15,626 And it was this idea that, you know, if you knew Pastor Spicer, 643 00:27:15,658 --> 00:27:18,570 he always had a checklist in his pocket right here, and he always 644 00:27:18,610 --> 00:27:21,194 was writing things down, and he had all of his bullet points for 645 00:27:21,202 --> 00:27:21,402 the day. 646 00:27:21,426 --> 00:27:23,322 He's like, all right, Pastor Josh, you gotta start carrying a 647 00:27:23,346 --> 00:27:24,330 three by five card. 648 00:27:24,410 --> 00:27:26,882 I said, well, Pat, Pastor Spicer, I've got a phone here. 649 00:27:26,906 --> 00:27:27,778 I just type in what? 650 00:27:27,834 --> 00:27:30,546 No, you need a 3 by 5 card in your pocket to write down everyone's 651 00:27:30,578 --> 00:27:32,898 needs, and then you gotta make sure you're checking them off. 652 00:27:32,954 --> 00:27:35,074 But then he reminded me, you know, there's times where I have 653 00:27:35,082 --> 00:27:37,922 to put that 3 by 5 card down and take care of the situation at 654 00:27:37,946 --> 00:27:38,514 hand. 655 00:27:38,682 --> 00:27:41,586 And I think that's a good lesson in ministry that, you know, 656 00:27:41,658 --> 00:27:45,666 we can have a purpose and we can have goals and we can have desires 657 00:27:45,698 --> 00:27:46,322 of growth. 658 00:27:46,426 --> 00:27:47,282 But folks, you know what? 659 00:27:47,306 --> 00:27:51,150 The, the real major issue at hand is the souls of men. 660 00:27:51,510 --> 00:27:57,050 And, and I'm not in the business of selling a product. 661 00:27:57,670 --> 00:28:01,038 I, I, I'm not in the business of trying to fill a building. 662 00:28:01,174 --> 00:28:04,814 The Bible says that I am as a pastor, and we as a church are in 663 00:28:04,822 --> 00:28:06,130 the business of souls. 664 00:28:07,110 --> 00:28:11,214 And, and we should be praying for each other as we do, we should 665 00:28:11,222 --> 00:28:13,582 be encouraging each other, we should be exhorting each other. 666 00:28:13,686 --> 00:28:15,902 And that's what Paul does here in, in Corinth. 667 00:28:15,966 --> 00:28:19,280 Now, lest you think that everything's okay right after that, 668 00:28:19,470 --> 00:28:20,748 what happens next? 669 00:28:20,884 --> 00:28:21,996 We got about 10 more minutes. 670 00:28:22,028 --> 00:28:25,068 We're Gonna look at the thing that immediately follows this. 671 00:28:25,204 --> 00:28:28,556 We don't know exactly the time frame. 672 00:28:28,588 --> 00:28:30,636 About a year or so that this happens. 673 00:28:30,668 --> 00:28:31,292 A year and six months. 674 00:28:31,316 --> 00:28:35,356 And it says, and when Galileo was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews 675 00:28:35,388 --> 00:28:38,412 made insurrection with one accord against Paul. 676 00:28:38,476 --> 00:28:42,636 So the Jews obviously don't like Paul, so they make an insurrection 677 00:28:42,668 --> 00:28:45,964 and they, they brought him to the judgment seat, saying, this fellow 678 00:28:46,012 --> 00:28:49,212 persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 679 00:28:49,396 --> 00:28:53,548 So the accusation against Paul from the Jews was that Paul was teaching 680 00:28:53,724 --> 00:28:57,996 this new religion that was opposed to the law, meaning, hey, 681 00:28:58,028 --> 00:28:59,640 follow God, but don't follow the law. 682 00:29:00,180 --> 00:29:03,772 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, so Paul's about to 683 00:29:03,796 --> 00:29:07,212 defend himself, which we know he, he doesn't really like to do, 684 00:29:07,236 --> 00:29:08,920 but he knows that he has to do it here. 685 00:29:09,380 --> 00:29:12,924 Galio, which was the kind of the, the governor, the deputy of 686 00:29:12,932 --> 00:29:18,374 the area, said unto the Jews, if it were a matter of wrong or wicked 687 00:29:18,422 --> 00:29:22,742 lewdness, oh ye Jews reason would that I should bear with you. 688 00:29:22,766 --> 00:29:25,222 Meaning I would agree with you that this is a problem if he was 689 00:29:25,246 --> 00:29:27,974 doing something lewd or if he was doing something wicked in our 690 00:29:27,982 --> 00:29:29,990 culture and trying to pull down our culture. 691 00:29:30,150 --> 00:29:35,170 But if it be a question of words and names and of your law, 692 00:29:35,630 --> 00:29:36,502 look ye to it. 693 00:29:36,526 --> 00:29:39,302 He's like, this is your problem, not my problem, for I will 694 00:29:39,326 --> 00:29:41,290 be no judge of such matters. 695 00:29:41,430 --> 00:29:47,042 So God uses this Gentile deputy to defend Paul against the 696 00:29:47,066 --> 00:29:48,030 Jewish people. 697 00:29:48,970 --> 00:29:52,050 And verse 16, and he drave them from the judgment seat. 698 00:29:52,130 --> 00:29:56,450 Then all the Greeks, the Gentiles took softenes, the chief 699 00:29:56,490 --> 00:29:58,690 ruler of the synagogue, the Jewish ruler. 700 00:29:58,850 --> 00:30:01,682 And by the way, you, you know, there are things in Scripture that 701 00:30:01,706 --> 00:30:04,242 are prescriptive that we should do. 702 00:30:04,346 --> 00:30:07,106 And there, there's things in scripture that are descriptive, meaning 703 00:30:07,138 --> 00:30:08,388 just describing what happened. 704 00:30:08,474 --> 00:30:11,296 This is not God condoning what we should do to our enemies. 705 00:30:11,408 --> 00:30:14,496 But the Gentiles grabbed the leader of the synagogue and beat 706 00:30:14,528 --> 00:30:15,840 him before the judgment seat. 707 00:30:15,920 --> 00:30:18,700 And Galileo cared for none of those things. 708 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,336 And so what happens is, is that the Gentiles actually revolt 709 00:30:22,368 --> 00:30:23,232 against the Jews. 710 00:30:23,296 --> 00:30:27,792 And, and this isn't so much, I think people defending Paul as much 711 00:30:27,816 --> 00:30:29,520 as people just didn't like the Jews. 712 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:31,540 And so that's their response. 713 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:36,528 And, and so that's, that's kind of the, the end of, of that 714 00:30:36,584 --> 00:30:37,488 story, verse 17. 715 00:30:37,544 --> 00:30:39,746 And that's where we're kind of going to end tonight. 716 00:30:39,928 --> 00:30:43,006 Uh, but, but ultimately what we can see in this case is that Paul 717 00:30:43,038 --> 00:30:43,854 is protected. 718 00:30:43,982 --> 00:30:45,342 God keeps his word. 719 00:30:45,486 --> 00:30:48,222 Um, you know, in this case, Paul probably could have had some 720 00:30:48,246 --> 00:30:48,798 questions about. 721 00:30:48,854 --> 00:30:49,518 Wait, God. 722 00:30:49,534 --> 00:30:50,766 I thought you thought everything was going to be okay. 723 00:30:50,798 --> 00:30:52,590 Now they're going to put me before the judgment seat. 724 00:30:52,670 --> 00:30:55,822 And right when he was about to talk about defending himself, God 725 00:30:55,886 --> 00:31:00,206 allowed this individual to defend him and God preserved him. 726 00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:02,366 I, I did find it very interesting though. 727 00:31:02,438 --> 00:31:03,870 Like if you, if you look at name. 728 00:31:03,910 --> 00:31:06,446 If you're, Some of you might not be people that are interested 729 00:31:06,478 --> 00:31:09,438 in names, but if you look at verse 17 says, then all the Greeks 730 00:31:09,454 --> 00:31:13,134 took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat 731 00:31:13,182 --> 00:31:13,770 him. 732 00:31:14,070 --> 00:31:17,582 But then we see in First Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 1, 733 00:31:17,686 --> 00:31:20,222 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will 734 00:31:20,246 --> 00:31:22,590 of God and Sosthenes, our brother. 735 00:31:22,750 --> 00:31:25,774 And so some commentators believe that this very same Sosthenes 736 00:31:25,822 --> 00:31:29,598 that got a beaten as the chief ruler of the synagogue actually converted 737 00:31:29,694 --> 00:31:30,590 and came to Christ. 738 00:31:30,630 --> 00:31:33,086 I, I don't know if those are the two of the same, but I was reading 739 00:31:33,118 --> 00:31:35,930 some commentators and they said that, and I found that interesting, 740 00:31:36,110 --> 00:31:39,762 but I don't know necessarily if that be the case. 741 00:31:39,946 --> 00:31:43,602 But again, it's a simple message here this evening when we 742 00:31:43,626 --> 00:31:45,282 face opposition, what are we gonna do? 743 00:31:45,306 --> 00:31:46,722 Are we gonna fear? 744 00:31:46,866 --> 00:31:48,258 Are we gonna faith? 745 00:31:48,434 --> 00:31:49,026 Are we gonna. 746 00:31:49,058 --> 00:31:51,922 Are we gonna rest in our own self pity? 747 00:31:51,986 --> 00:31:54,258 Or are we gonna rest in the presence of God? 748 00:31:54,354 --> 00:31:57,282 That will bring the peace of God, which will eventually bring 749 00:31:57,306 --> 00:31:59,990 the power of God through the message of the gospel. 750 00:32:00,410 --> 00:32:03,026 I don't know what God's gonna bring our way this year, but I encourage 751 00:32:03,058 --> 00:32:04,274 you to stand up for the truth. 752 00:32:04,322 --> 00:32:06,390 I encourage you to proclaim the gospel. 753 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:08,832 Find a. 754 00:32:08,936 --> 00:32:12,240 As Second Corinthians says, a ministry of reconciliation. 755 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:13,392 We all have. 756 00:32:13,576 --> 00:32:15,136 I'm talking to the Sunday night crowd. 757 00:32:15,248 --> 00:32:21,584 We all have a ministry, but what is a ministry of reconciliation? 758 00:32:21,712 --> 00:32:22,240 It's like. 759 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:22,608 Pastor. 760 00:32:22,624 --> 00:32:24,820 I don't know about that, Pastor. 761 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,616 Ministry is something that I just do on a Sunday just to check 762 00:32:29,648 --> 00:32:30,576 my box. 763 00:32:30,768 --> 00:32:31,712 I just want to do that. 764 00:32:31,736 --> 00:32:32,480 I don't want to be a. 765 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:33,952 What's a ministry of reconciliation? 766 00:32:34,016 --> 00:32:36,014 Ministry of reconciliation just means this. 767 00:32:36,112 --> 00:32:38,738 It's a ministry that points people to the gospel. 768 00:32:38,914 --> 00:32:43,202 It's a ministry in any capacity that allows the gospel to 769 00:32:43,226 --> 00:32:44,670 be seen through you. 770 00:32:45,130 --> 00:32:48,466 Well, Pastor, how can I be having a ministry of reconciliation 771 00:32:48,498 --> 00:32:50,550 when I watch those babies in the nursery? 772 00:32:51,050 --> 00:32:53,746 Well, you can love them with the love of Christ. 773 00:32:53,898 --> 00:32:55,938 You can minister to the parents. 774 00:32:56,114 --> 00:33:00,050 You can tell them about things that, you know, the child did and 775 00:33:00,090 --> 00:33:01,528 encourage their hearts in that way. 776 00:33:01,634 --> 00:33:05,212 Folks, we can be creative with the gospel and, and you know, well, 777 00:33:05,236 --> 00:33:06,540 I'm, I'm on the security team. 778 00:33:06,580 --> 00:33:08,988 How can I be having a ministry of reconciliation? 779 00:33:09,084 --> 00:33:10,680 The list can go on and on. 780 00:33:11,140 --> 00:33:14,300 I, I would tell you that everything that we do, if we do it, 781 00:33:14,340 --> 00:33:17,004 the Bible says to do it in the name of the gospel. 782 00:33:17,132 --> 00:33:22,700 Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all 783 00:33:22,740 --> 00:33:23,660 to the glory of God. 784 00:33:23,740 --> 00:33:27,164 That verse tells me that whatever I do, I can do it to the 785 00:33:27,172 --> 00:33:27,946 glory of God. 786 00:33:28,068 --> 00:33:30,942 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works 787 00:33:31,006 --> 00:33:33,198 and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. 788 00:33:33,374 --> 00:33:36,606 These are all things that remind us that whatever we are doing, 789 00:33:36,678 --> 00:33:41,550 not just on Sunday morning, not just once a month, not just when 790 00:33:41,590 --> 00:33:44,206 we get together and we have to make sure we're on our best behavior 791 00:33:44,238 --> 00:33:47,342 for church, but in every aspect of our life that we take the 792 00:33:47,366 --> 00:33:48,410 gospel out. 793 00:33:48,950 --> 00:33:51,214 You know, there's a lot of people that ask me, hey, hey, Pastor, 794 00:33:51,262 --> 00:33:53,930 how can we get the word out into the community? 795 00:33:54,690 --> 00:33:57,546 Well, I mean, there's websites, there's flyers, there's, 796 00:33:57,578 --> 00:33:58,954 you know, we could take out a billboard. 797 00:33:59,002 --> 00:33:59,770 These are all good things. 798 00:33:59,810 --> 00:34:04,170 But I'm going to tell you, you know what the greatest method of 799 00:34:04,210 --> 00:34:07,146 sharing the gospel and bringing people into churches is 800 00:34:07,218 --> 00:34:11,066 Christians taking the message and sharing that with other people. 801 00:34:11,218 --> 00:34:15,466 I mean, we can spend a ton of money on advertising and we can. 802 00:34:15,538 --> 00:34:16,870 There's no problem with that. 803 00:34:17,330 --> 00:34:22,756 But the greatest advertisement for the Lord and the greatest message 804 00:34:22,788 --> 00:34:26,148 of the gospel is by the saints taking the message into the world, 805 00:34:26,284 --> 00:34:27,400 word of mouth. 806 00:34:28,300 --> 00:34:32,116 And if God has challenged you to do that here this year, I encourage 807 00:34:32,148 --> 00:34:35,972 you to take steps to invite someone, to bring someone in to tell 808 00:34:35,996 --> 00:34:37,760 people about the truth of Jesus Christ. 809 00:34:39,100 --> 00:34:41,460 Don't necessarily tell them, hey, you know what? 810 00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:41,748 We. 811 00:34:41,804 --> 00:34:44,004 You could tell them, hey, we've got a lot of great ministries 812 00:34:44,052 --> 00:34:44,436 at our church. 813 00:34:44,468 --> 00:34:46,350 We've got a lot of great things that you can do. 814 00:34:46,500 --> 00:34:49,898 But ultimately, the whole point we have here is to tell people 815 00:34:49,954 --> 00:34:50,426 about Jesus. 816 00:34:50,458 --> 00:34:51,162 That's what Paul said. 817 00:34:51,186 --> 00:34:53,850 Paul said, hey, it's about Jesus and Jesus crucified. 818 00:34:54,010 --> 00:34:56,346 It's about Jesus and Jesus resurrected. 819 00:34:56,538 --> 00:35:02,074 And I don't know about you, but I see the time ticking and I 820 00:35:02,082 --> 00:35:04,330 think of that verse that says, redeeming the time because the days 821 00:35:04,370 --> 00:35:04,746 are evil. 822 00:35:04,778 --> 00:35:08,458 I don't know how much time God has for us, but all I know is that 823 00:35:08,514 --> 00:35:11,610 I feel more and more of a desire to get busy about the things 824 00:35:11,650 --> 00:35:13,872 of God and the time that he has given us. 825 00:35:13,976 --> 00:35:17,312 And so I hope that that's something that you also feel as well. 826 00:35:17,416 --> 00:35:21,088 Well, we'll be back next week studying Acts chapter 18. 827 00:35:21,144 --> 00:35:25,056 And we're going to continue here at the end of, of Paul's second 828 00:35:25,128 --> 00:35:26,900 missionary journey. 829 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:31,072 And you know, I, I've really, really enjoyed the study in the book 830 00:35:31,096 --> 00:35:31,920 of Acts. 831 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,752 It is a historical account, but I think there's a lot that we 832 00:35:34,776 --> 00:35:37,344 can learn when it comes to the early church. 833 00:35:37,472 --> 00:35:41,644 And I think that we as Christians have allowed other things 834 00:35:41,732 --> 00:35:48,380 to seep into church and put those above the things that God has 835 00:35:48,420 --> 00:35:50,040 us to be serious about. 836 00:35:52,340 --> 00:35:57,404 And so my desire is for myself and others at the church to realign 837 00:35:57,452 --> 00:35:59,360 ourselves with, with what matters. 838 00:36:00,340 --> 00:36:03,772 I go back to the. 839 00:36:03,876 --> 00:36:05,276 Well, rewind. 840 00:36:05,308 --> 00:36:11,000 About two and a half years ago, I was in this very podium and 841 00:36:11,380 --> 00:36:16,956 I was preaching on trials and we got in our car, we drove away. 842 00:36:17,108 --> 00:36:19,148 We got in a pretty serious car accident. 843 00:36:19,324 --> 00:36:25,916 I can tell you that when our car was flipping, I wasn't thinking 844 00:36:25,948 --> 00:36:28,280 about all the things that really don't matter. 845 00:36:28,740 --> 00:36:30,380 I was thinking about the thing that didn't matter. 846 00:36:30,420 --> 00:36:31,388 I was thinking about my children. 847 00:36:31,444 --> 00:36:34,254 I was thinking about my Savior. 848 00:36:34,302 --> 00:36:35,810 I was calling out to God. 849 00:36:36,150 --> 00:36:41,410 And that's what mattered about a year ago when Silas was born. 850 00:36:42,070 --> 00:36:44,622 I don't know if any of you guys have those moments in your life 851 00:36:44,646 --> 00:36:47,966 that you can go back to that are like, like cornerstone moments 852 00:36:47,998 --> 00:36:49,690 in your life that change you. 853 00:36:50,630 --> 00:36:54,878 The night that Silas was born, I remember, I won't go into the whole 854 00:36:54,894 --> 00:36:58,142 story, but I remember the moment where God woke me up to things 855 00:36:58,166 --> 00:36:59,834 that like, matter and don't matter. 856 00:37:00,022 --> 00:37:04,066 And I remember in the waiting room outside of Silas's surgery, 857 00:37:04,098 --> 00:37:08,994 there I was, I was talking to God and it was probably one of the 858 00:37:09,002 --> 00:37:11,150 most real prayers I've ever had to him. 859 00:37:11,610 --> 00:37:14,562 And I remember saying, lord, I'm, I, I apologize to him. 860 00:37:14,586 --> 00:37:19,490 I said, I'm sorry for wasting time and things that don't matter. 861 00:37:19,610 --> 00:37:24,466 And, and it was sobering and, and so from that time frame on, I've 862 00:37:24,498 --> 00:37:28,898 realized that we have a purpose and that time is short and 863 00:37:28,954 --> 00:37:31,522 that we must be busy about the things of God. 864 00:37:31,666 --> 00:37:35,762 And so God forbid, things have to happen to get our attention like 865 00:37:35,786 --> 00:37:40,002 that, but God did enough in his word to get our attention and 866 00:37:40,026 --> 00:37:41,666 I think that that's something that we should think about. 867 00:37:41,738 --> 00:37:44,354 So anyhow, I'm getting a little bit emotional. 868 00:37:44,402 --> 00:37:47,826 I don't wanna go too emotional here tonight, but encourage you guys 869 00:37:47,858 --> 00:37:50,082 to think about those things in your life that cause you to think 870 00:37:50,106 --> 00:37:54,290 about what truly matters to the cause of the gospel. 871 00:37:55,110 --> 00:37:57,774 Thank you again for listening to the Middletown Baptist Church 872 00:37:57,822 --> 00:37:58,574 podcast. 873 00:37:58,702 --> 00:38:01,290 I hope that this sermon has been a blessing for you. 874 00:38:01,670 --> 00:38:03,886 You would like to find out more information about our church 875 00:38:03,918 --> 00:38:04,606 or this sermon. 876 00:38:04,638 --> 00:38:08,590 You can find us at middletownbaptistchurch.org or find 877 00:38:08,630 --> 00:38:10,530 us on Facebook or YouTube. 878 00:38:10,950 --> 00:38:15,406 You can also email me directly at Josh Massaroiddletownbaptistchurch 879 00:38:15,438 --> 00:38:19,928 dot com if you've enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and follow 880 00:38:19,984 --> 00:38:23,020 along for future podcast and updates. 881 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:24,440 Thank you so much. 882 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:25,432 God Bless. 883 00:38:25,576 --> 00:38:26,640 Have a wonderful day.