I'd like us this morning to continue our study in the book of Acts and consider together what we have read in this, the opening section of chapter 17. First of all, to consider with you the man, a man who was beaten and up all night, held in the stocks so that he could not take any rest, his back no doubt bleeding, and yet he found that the only thing that he could do was to bring his every condition into the very presence of God, and his fellow prisoners listened attentively to him as he declared God's grace and mercy. Having been up all night, the wounds which he had were tended to by the Philippian jailer who was brought to saving faith, but the citizens, the worthies of Philippi asked him to leave nonetheless. but he doesn't leave before going to see Lydia and no doubt introducing a brother in Christ, a Philippian jailer. Could there have been a greater contrast in any early Christian fellowship between the sophisticated and wealthy Lydia, the seller of purple, and this rough-and-ready, probably former soldier who was the jailer in Philippi, and yet they were united together in Christ. Yet despite the wounds on his back, despite the lack of sleep, despite everything that had transpired in the previous 24 hours, he set out immediately to walk passing through both Amphipolis and Apollonia to come to Thessalonica. About a hundred miles away, it's possible that the two cities that are mentioned are where he spent the two nights in between, but walking all day for probably in the region of three days in order that he might arrive at Thessalonica. The first thing that we note in Paul is just an incredible stamina for continuing to preach the gospel. And in this, we see for ourselves that the Christian life is not so much a sprint as a marathon. And if we're going to make it to the finishing line, then we need to realize at the outset that we must commit ourselves to it and have that resolve that says, whatever happens, I am going to continue. And in large measure, that's an attitude of mind, to declare to ourselves that I'm not going to give in, I'm going to press on, no matter the hardships, no matter the difficulties, no matter the pains, no matter the other difficulties through which I might pass. My mind is utterly committed to this path and I will not depart from it. It is evident that Paul had just such an attitude of heart and of mind and that he was committed to that path. There is that hymn which perhaps most of us know, I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back. No turning back. Now there may be some theological points that we want to add to that. That it is God who's working in us to enable us to move forward. And yet nevertheless in scripture we see, as Paul himself says to the Philippian church, writing back to them, that we are to strive in our Christian faith. For it is God who works in us both to will and to do. But there's more than just merely a stamina in Paul and one which we would seek to emulate. We seek to see it in ourselves. But there is a courage. He is courageous in his proclamation of Christ. He had been wrongfully accused at Philippi. He had been beaten and imprisoned. and what was facing him at Thessalonica. Well as we read there the citizens of Thessalonica were stirred up and when they couldn't find Paul and Silas they dragged out poor Jason who possibly was just an innkeeper and the place where Paul and Silas were staying, but no doubt someone to whom Paul then witnessed and spoke a word in season. But they dragged out poor Jason and they had him in the midst of a crowd and being harangued by an angry mob. When Paul left Philippi, what would Paul anticipate that he would find at Thessalonica? Was he thinking that of this, of all places, life would be easy and the preaching of the gospel would be with a great reception and no one would have any difficulties? Well, his first missionary journey provided him with many illustrations of how difficult it was when he went from town to town. And his second missionary journey, which we're studying together, was no different. He continues to face opposition wherever he goes, and yet the stamina The stamina is matched by his courage, even though he would anticipate that arriving in Thessalonica, he would be faced with difficulties. Nevertheless, he continues to press ahead. Here is someone then who truly does not fear the face of man. He does not fear the face of man. Contrast that with the Philippian jailer that we examined last Lord's Day. The Philippian jailer feared the face of man so much that he drew his own sword and would have killed himself. Life wasn't worth living if his Charges had escaped from his prison, and so drawing his sword, he would have done away with himself. Contrast that with Paul, who knows that there are many who would take his life if they possibly could, and yet does not hesitate to continue upon the same path if only he might preach Christ. Well, as we consider Paul then, we see his stamina, we see his courage. We should ask ourselves, what is the source of such indefatigable courage? He was more concerned with pleasing God. And secondly, he had a great love for men's souls. And both these things made Paul bold. Well, that causes us to ask the question, what are we prepared to risk for Christ Jesus and for the cause of the gospel? Are we willing to risk a beating or imprisonment or death itself? By the grace of God, we've been set in a land where such things seem so far removed from us as it almost becomes impossible for us even to imagine a scenario where such things would happen. Though that is, of course, not the case for many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. But for us, as we live here, the gospel's been preached for centuries from shore to shore. and we enjoy peace, we enjoy tranquility, we enjoy the liberty of being able to assemble freely without fear of the powers of the state intervening and taking us away and doing what they did to Paul. One hopes that such things will continue indefinitely. We'd like to hope that in our lifetime we continue to see such liberty granted to us and for our children and for our children's children. But if you examine the way in which the nation is going, do you really have so much confidence that we will continue with such liberties? What the world can give, the world can take away. So I ask you again, are you willing to engage in the gospel of Jesus Christ, even though at some personal cost? Is there a stamina and the courage of a Paul in our midst that come what may we will continue faithful and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what of the other great motive? Not only did he risk this for God, he did it for his love of those to whom he preached. He had a desire to see men saved. He loved the souls of men. We love the souls of our neighbors and our colleagues, family members. What happens to those who die outside of Christ? Well, I suppose for each and every one of you, possibly we might even say without exception, we know the answer to that question, don't we? What happens to the person who dies not confessing Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior? He goes to a lost eternity. It is as well for us that we are not able to glimpse into the darkness of hell. I wonder if our hearts could truly bear up under that pressure. If for a moment we saw what a lost eternity looked like, our own souls would be so shriveled within us that we would find it difficult for us to bear the very thought of it. We only have it in the barest outline of what a lost eternity looks like. If we saw it in its fullness, I don't think we could bear to look upon hell for a moment. And yet for those who die outside of Christ, that's where they're going. That's what our scriptures tell us. And yet we seem to be so often indifferent to the eternal destiny of those around about us. Members of our own family who do not confess Christ, our colleagues at work, those that we might just meet for a moment. And it may not be entirely accurate, but I don't think it's stretching or implausible to suppose that Paul, when he arrived at Thessalonica, looked for a place to stay. He had nobody there that he knew, and so he stays with Jason. And some commentators think that Jason was an innkeeper. So he goes and attaches himself, he goes and stays in the inn belonging to Jason, and as he's there, Jason comes under the influence of the gospel. You see how the heart of Paul, as he says elsewhere in Acts chapter 20, when we come to Acts chapter 20, and the church in Ephesus, how he went about from door to door and he declared the whole counsel of God. And he did it publicly and he did it privately. It's not stretching the imagination too far to suppose that Jason, the innkeeper possibly, was one to whom Paul preached that message, so that when they came looking for Paul and Silas, they saw and had now identified Jason as belonging. He wasn't just the innkeeper now, he was an associate with Paul and Silas, and that would explain why they dragged him away, even though he had but lately met with Paul and Silas. Well, if we understand, therefore, Paul's great motivation, a desire to honor God, but a desire also for the souls of men, what are we willing to do for the cause of Christ? Have you shared the gospel with anyone recently? Or if sharing the gospel is so far beyond your ability, your comfort zone, what about just inviting them to church? Let's take baby steps. If sharing the gospel is too much immediately for you, have you even invited somebody to church? When was the last time you invited somebody to come and attend upon the means of grace? Imagine going to your workplace, to the building site or to the office, and you're working alongside the same people for year after year. Perhaps you've been in the same office for 40 years, but in all that time, not once have you said to any of your co-laborers, will you come with me this Lord's day to church? to meet with people day in, day out, year after year, and never say once, will you please come with me to church? Well, shame on you. But it's not just timidity, a fear of the face of men. You see, the contrast between me and Paul here, Paul is battered and bruised, his back is torn, there are scars all over his body from being beaten and whipped and being stoned. And so often I, I find it difficult just to say to someone, will you come with me to church? Because I'm embarrassed to do it. Tell me you don't know that yourself. I won't risk being embarrassed for a few minutes, and somebody thinking me a complete fool, or strange, or whatever else they might say, I won't risk five minutes of embarrassment, and Paul here was willing to endure stoning and beating. But we also recognize that it's not just the embarrassment that prevents us from doing it, or it's embarrassment of a different kind. It's not embarrassment for being thought a fool. It's because our witness does not match up with any invitation to come to church. And those beside whom we work, they know what we are like. Is it possible that our way of conducting ourselves from Monday to Saturday is a contradiction to what we do on a Sunday? We come to church and everybody else is a Christian around us and we say the right sort of things, we talk together, we have fellowship together, we go back into the workplace on a Monday and we swear up a curse, up a storm every day of the week. And we wonder why we find it difficult to actually invite somebody to church that we've just been cursing at. Well, of course, there's a complete contradiction. You're inviting me to come to church and you can't keep your own mouth in check. Well, rather than show the hypocrisy of our Christian profession, we remain silent. No contradiction in the ministry of Paul, and there shouldn't be a contradiction in ours. What are we to do then? We recognize that you and I are wretched sinners, and we're not what we ought to be. that are the contradictions in our lives of which we are ashamed. And the enemy of our soul makes it an excuse for us, makes it a reason that we don't speak to our neighbor because our neighbor knows what we are like. And so we remain silent. Well, that stranger who doesn't know what we're like, we're unwilling to brave the embarrassment just for a few minutes. Well, here we are at the last day, sorry, the last Lord's Day of the year. It's an opportunity for us to make some New Year's resolutions. I've already talked about one resolution, a resolve to be committed wholeheartedly to the cause of Christ Jesus. The stamina begins in the head. Say, I am going to continue forward. I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. And here's the resolution for this year. I will seek to make God more and more at the forefront of my every thought. What shall I do? Recognizing my own weaknesses. Where to start? Pray to love God more. We have these questions, we've been examining the nature of prayer. What prayers should we offer up? What prayers can we offer up? Surely the prayers that we offer up are delving into Scripture and seeing what God would set before us. These are things that we can legitimately ask for, pray for, and know that God will answer. God's work in our lives is to conform us to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if I pray for that, he will answer that prayer. Here's a prayer that we should be praying. Lord, make me more like Jesus Christ. Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. You see, although Paul is set before us in pointing us really towards Christ, who endured the agonies of the cross for the joy that was set before him. Oh, that it was a daily prayer for you and for me, that God would enlarge our hearts to love him more. Oh, we make that our prayer for this coming year. but not only to love God more, but to love our fellow man more, and for boldness to declare to them the good news that is in Christ. Pray that God will open your eyes to see the opportunities that are before you. Even if it's just so much as come to church with me this Lord's Day. I'd love to take you to church. I'll meet you. I'll pick you up. I'll do whatever it takes. to come to church and hear of Christ. And that brings us secondly then to the message. When Paul came to the synagogue as was his custom, he reasoned from them from the scriptures. He was following through on what Isaiah says, come now let us reason together. Well, what is the task of the preacher? But of those who must always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within them. It presupposes a knowledge of Scripture. Where do we get that knowledge from? From the personal study of Scripture? From attending upon the morning worship service? From attending upon the evening worship service? From going to Sunday school? Why aren't all the adults in Sunday school? Why are not all the adults in Sunday school? Do you know it all already? I don't know it all already. You can ask me questions, I'll often tell you, I just don't know the answer. One question to which I don't know the answer is why those who don't know it all already don't go to the adult Sunday school class? Bible study on a Wednesday night. Do you know how many are there? If we have six or seven, we're doing quite well. Oh brethren, I'm not coming before you as your pastor to beat you, but to love you. I want you to know God's word. And I want it to take root in your lives. And it's a burden upon me, I confess, to prepare a Bible study. where 95% of the membership and more never come. Why are you not there? Do you know it all already? Study God's Word. When Paul came to Thessalonica, he reasoned from the Scriptures. And there'll be those amongst your circle of neighbors and of friends, people that you know well, whom you love dearly, those whom you barely know at all, whose names you can't even recall. But are you looking for an opportunity to say, I want to share the gospel with you? Because I know where you're going if you don't trust in Christ. You're going to a lost eternity. You will be under the condemnation of a holy God forever. And I would not have that be so. We would say literally, I would not wish that upon my worst enemy. And certainly not for those that I love and care for. And if they present some argument, I want to be ready. I want to be fully equipped from Scripture to be able to give that reason for the hope that is within me, the hope of eternal life. As Paul spoke to those who gathered in the synagogue, he gives a brief outline of his ministry. And Paul went in as was his custom on three Sabbath days. He reasoned with them from scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you is the Christ. Well, there's the outline of Paul's ministry. He knew his scriptures. He knew them well. He'd studied them. He'd committed them to memory. And as he comes amongst those who attended the synagogue in Thessalonica, he picks up the scriptures and he starts to explain it to them, to reason with them, and give them examples from scriptures, that the suffering servant of Isaiah is one who is fulfilled. All those prophecies are fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. That it was necessary for Him to die. Why was it necessary for Jesus to die? Because He takes our place upon the cross. No man took His life away from Him. He yielded it up. He lay it down. Why? Because of His love towards the lost. His love for men's souls. Well, that makes you ask the question, why did Jesus, why was it necessary for him to lay down his life? Well, what Paul is telling us here in this particular passage, he's preaching the gospel. The gospel tells us what? That you and I are sinners. God is holy, he is perfect. and that you and I have broken his commandments. We read through the 10 commandments. And if our hearts are alive at all the things of God, we know that we've broken the commands. Perhaps we are more conscious of one commandment than of another, but we know that we are sin bearers ourselves. We bear the load of sin. We recognize that we've broken the commandments of God. How can we enter into the presence of a holy God seeing that we are sinners? Will the Holy God accept? No, it doesn't matter that you have rebelled against me. Does any king say to a rebel, it doesn't matter? If you lead others in rebellion against me, just continue on your way. Continue as you are. No, no king will say that. And King Jesus doesn't say that either. Well, how are our sins to be dealt with? Your sins and mine. I say, I recognize that Jesus has taken my place. The burden for my sins have been placed upon the head and heart of the Lord Jesus, so that I might have his righteousness. Paul is seeking to reason with his hearers. This was the plan of God, and it is fulfilled, that the Messiah had to come, and they had to die, but he also had to rise again. For in his resurrection, we see that the gift of his own life, the sacrifice of his own life was acceptable to the Father. And so in the resurrection of Christ, I know that my sins are forgiven. And this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ, the man the message. Let's pray. Our gracious God and our heavenly Father, we do thank thee for thy word. We confess that we are sinners. We see in Paul, one who was bold, that even when beaten, imprisoned, left for dead, continued faithful. even to the last. We thank you, Lord, that thy spirit sustained him. Forgive us that though we see in Paul one who endured beatings and imprisonment, that we are not willing often to endure embarrassment. Enable us, O Lord, to be bold for Christ. And in this coming year, may not a week pass but that we invite someone to attend upon the means of grace, that hundreds may be invited, and hundreds attend, and hundreds brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Equip us, O God, to that end. Equip us, we pray, in the place of prayer that we may grow more and more like Christ who endured even to death for us. Make us more like him and give us his love for the lost. Our gracious God, we do thank thee for the Lord Jesus and for the salvation which he alone can give. Hear us, we pray in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen.