sure you understand what's happening in the narrative. The number three, I'm going to apply the message. I believe there's things we can learn from the story given to us on how Paul was a witness of Christ to the people in Corinth. I believe we can learn from that example on how we can be effective witnesses for Christ with reference to our family and friends. So those are the three things. I'm gonna read the text, give you a little background of the story, and then give you an application of the truth. Let me read for you the text, Acts chapter 18, verse one. Remember in Acts chapter 17, Paul is in Athens, And he has preached that famous sermon. And now he has left Athens. And this is the introduction to our text. After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth and found a certain Jew named Aquila. Aquila was born in Pontus, but lately came from Italy and came with his wife, Priscilla. This was because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. And Paul came unto this couple, Aquila and Priscilla. And because he was of the same craft, they were all tent makers, Paul abode with them and wrought. For by their occupation, they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, that would be on the Saturday, and persuaded the Jews as well as the Gentiles or Greeks. Then two of Paul's friends show up on the scene, Silas and Timotheus. When these men were come from Macedonia to Corinth, Paul was pressed in his spirit. And he forthwith testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when the Jews opposed themselves and blasphemed, Paul shook the dust from his raiment off his garment. And he says to the Jews, your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From henceforth, I will go unto the Gentiles. And Paul departed thence. And he entered into a certain man's house. That man's name is Justice. This man was one who worshiped God. And his house happened to have been joined hard or against the side of that synagogue. And Crispus, who was the chief ruler of the synagogue, he believed on the Lord with all his house. And many of the Corinthians hearing, they also believed. And together they were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have much people in this city. And Paul continued in Corinth for a year and six months. teaching the word of God among them. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Here's the first thing we're gonna do this morning. I read for you the text, that's the story. And just to be sure you can piece it all together, let me go ahead and give you some background and fill in a little bit of blank space, try to read between the lines and get a better sense into what's happening here in the story or in the narrative. It appears the poll has come from Athens And he has made a journey of about 50 miles to a place called Corinth. Now, these two cities are contrasted with each other. They're very different types of cities. In Athens, you basically have high cultured philosophers and thinkers. And Paul was just there. ministering to those type of people. But now he's come into a very different place. Corinth was a city filled with low class fornicators and adulterers. So they're very different places of ministry. And you might assume from the outset that you would find more Christians in Athens with a higher class of people than you would in Corinth. But we would be wrong if we made that assumption because in our text I've read for you, the Lord himself tells us he has many people in the city of Corinth. Now that shouldn't surprise us that God chooses the weak and abased and foolish things of the world to confound the mighty and the wise and the honorable things. Well, this is the place that Paul has come, Corinth. And I should tell you that Corinth, you can go to the place today. It's in ruins. You do have some of the remnants of ancient Corinth remaining, but in its day, it happened to have been a very wealthy, populous city. And when Paul visited this location, it had just been rebuilt. The city had been previously destroyed, It had been rebuilt and about probably 10 years had passed since the rebuilding of the city. So everything would have been very fresh and new, the streets, the homes, the buildings. This is the city into which the apostle had come. And while there was great luxury and wealth, the people in this city abused that wealth and they exploited the prestige. All types of outward immorality was taking place in this location. It was indeed a very wicked city. In fact, according to John Gill, I believe it was that commentator who mentioned it, the word Corinth may come from a Greek expression which means, here are girls and whores. And this may very well be where this name comes from, because in the temple of Venus, I understand there were a thousand prostitutes made available to any and all who would come into the temple. Now, Paul, when he arrived in this location, had no place to live. And just like you and me, if we were to go into a new place, there are certain essentials we require in which to live. Perhaps the first thing Paul considered was the place he was going to sleep that night. He had no place to go, but he was a tent maker. And he knew that if he was going to rent a local facility in which to live, he would have to have some type of income. So we assume the first thing he did when he came to Corinth was to go down to the local market. This would be the place where tents were made and sold. And while he was at this market, comes in, I don't know exactly which stall it would have been, but there was a couple that was serving at one of the stalls. The man's name was Aquila. Now, this man was a Jew. He was born in Pontus, which was a country in Asia. And this Jew had at some point got married to a woman named Priscilla. They together moved to Italy. They were living in Rome. But the political climate in Rome had escalated to such a degree, because at that time the Jews were disputing amongst each other on the personal work of Christ, it was causing a great uproar in Rome, that Claudius set a decree that all the Jews should depart Rome. So Aquila and his wife fled from Rome. They went down to Corinth before Paul reached the city. They had found a place to live, they had set up their tent making business, and they were at this local market. And providentially, God had made arrangements for Paul to come into contact with this couple. When they met each other, it was quite an interesting meeting. We assume it was so cordial, kind, and polite that Aquila immediately offered Paul a place to live in his own house. And so for the first part of Paul's stay in Corinth, he was actually living in the home of that couple. And it was very convenient for Paul because that couple were tent makers, he was a tent maker, and apparently they gave him a job. So not only did he have a place to live, but he had a place of employment. He was employed six days of the week. But on the Saturday, Paul took that day off. He didn't do any tent making work. Instead, he went down to the local synagogue. And at the local synagogue, he began his ministry by explaining to the Jews and the Greeks or Gentiles that gathered there, how the Messiah and the Old Testament is the redeemer of God's elect people. Now, at this first stage of Paul's ministry, he actually didn't connect the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ himself that had come to this earth already. He didn't make that connection yet. All Paul was doing was taking the Old Testament scriptures and explaining those scriptures in their own right. That was the first part of his ministry. For how long he did this, we don't know, but it must have been for several weeks or months until Paul's two friends showed up in Corinth, Silas and Timothy. And when Paul's companion showed up, all of a sudden, Paul felt emboldened. I suppose it was the added support of some friends. And Paul decided the next time he would go down to that local synagogue, he would no longer just restrict his thoughts to what the Old Testament teaches, but he would then make the leap of application by showing to those Jews and Gentiles how that the Lord Jesus Christ who had come to this earth and died at Calvary and risen from the dead, how this particular person is the Messiah of the Old Testament scriptures. So Paul went down on that Saturday and he did this, and he had his two companions to give him support. And the message didn't go over very well. The Jews were angered. They rejected the message that Paul had delivered to them. and their ignorance only led to blasphemy. They could not stand toe to toe with Paul on arguing the points of scripture, and ultimately the Jews began to blaspheme God. And such was the conflict between Paul and those that had gathered in the synagogue that Paul symbolically chose to cut himself off from ministering to that people any longer. He took his garments, and he shook them physically as if to shake the dust off of them. That simply meant he would have nothing more to do with those people. Then he says to the Jews, I'm not going to anymore preach this gospel to you. I mean, it's interesting. Paul didn't beg them to receive Christ. He didn't offer the grace of God in Christ to them. After Paul set forth the gospel of Jesus Christ and they blasphemed God, Paul simply chose to cut them off. In fact, he says he will never again step back into that synagogue. And as far as we know, he never did go back into that place. Instead, Paul left the synagogue. and he met a man named Justice. Justice had a house that was attached to the side of the synagogue. Justice was a Christian. How he became a Christian, we don't know. We assume it must have been through the ministry of Paul. Justice invited Paul to live with him for a while, and Justice also opened up his home as a place of worship. Forthwith, Paul began to conduct religious services inside Justice's home. Now what's interesting is that Paul decided he would no longer preach the gospel to the Jews in that synagogue, but providentially, you know what God did? God brought the ruler of the Jews of that synagogue into the home of Justice to hear the preachings of Paul. And that man was converted to Christ. And not only was the ruler of the synagogue in his household converted to Christ, but there were other Gentiles that had come into that home, heard the preaching, they too were saved. And then these persons were baptized. And we have the nucleus or the beginning of this church at Corinth. You know, the two letters we have in the New Testament, 1st, 2nd Corinthians, those letters were written to the church that I'm here describing its origins. Now, such was the success of this gospel ministry of Paul, this church being established, sinners being saved, converted to Christ, that apparently there is an uproar in the city of Corinth. And the rumor was spreading around that people were gonna put a stop to Paul's ministry. Perhaps there were death threats or some type of serious persecution. And Paul's friends, the members of this new church, they began to give him counsel. We're saying, hey, maybe you ought to get out of this place. You've done your work. We're now here, established as a church. We can keep this thing going. You should get on out of here and save yourself before these rumors become a reality. Well, I don't know if Paul entertained that thought, but what I do know is this. One night he goes to sleep, and in his sleep, God appears to him in a dream. And in this dream, God essentially tells Paul he is to remain in the city of Corinth and to continue freely and fully preaching the gospel. And when Paul woke up that morning, he did exactly that. He obeyed the voice of the Lord. And for a year and a half, he continued in Corinth, preaching the gospel and teaching the believers the things of Christ. Now that's the story that we find in Acts chapter 18. The question, and now I bring you to the third part of the thing I wanna do with you, the application. The question I have for you is this, what can we learn from this story about our own ministry of sharing the gospel with our family and friends? Well, I believe there's several things we can learn about it. I'm gonna mention six things in particular. Six, number one. Know what to share in the gospel message. Know what to share in the gospel message. How do you share the gospel with your family and friends? It all begins with this point. First, you've got to know what message it is that you're supposed to be sharing. Now, for a moment, think of the example we have in Paul. How did he go about preaching that gospel? What message did he bring to the people in Corinth? He did two things in his message. Mark them down. Number one, when he first went into the synagogue, he focused and restricted the gospel message to the text of scripture. Everything found in the Old Testament scriptures concerning the Messiah, Paul was simply saying to the people, whoever this Messiah is, this is the Redeemer of God's elect. And all of these prophecies of the Old Testament will be and are being fulfilled. Paul was focused on simply explaining the gospel message from the standpoint of the Old Testament scriptures, and no doubt the gospel of sovereign grace is found in the Old Testament scriptures. The second thing Paul did, and he waited for his companions to join him, Silas and Timothy. As soon as these men came along, Paul shifted to a new approach in preaching the gospel. The next time he went back into the synagogue, he took the Old Testament scriptures he was preaching to them, and then he brought it over And he applied it to what had just happened several years before when the Son of God was made flesh and dwelt among us. And in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul then explained how this Jesus is the Messiah of the Old Testament scriptures. And Paul preached the same gospel to them, Only this time, he went directly to the person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and preached the gospel from that direction. The reason I mention this to you is because Paul was capable of coming through the back door and preaching the message, or coming directly through the front door and preaching the message. It was the same gospel he preached but he approached the message from two different standpoints. I believe that's a valuable lesson we can learn if we're to know how we are to share the gospel message. In other words, the point is this, we must be able to get a bird's eye view of the whole scheme of salvation. The same type of view that Paul had that would then allow us to come at the gospel message from different approaches to communicate that to the various people to whom we're attempting to explain it. In other words, I believe every one of us must have a knowledge of God's eternal salvation, as well as how that eternal salvation comes to pass through process of time. We must have an understanding not only of the eternal decree of God, but how God takes his decree and providentially brings it to pass through history. so that when we sit down with our mother, or father, or son, or daughter, or uncle, or aunt, or some friend at school or at work, and we explain the gospel, we will be able to either approach that message beginning with the eternal point of view and coming down through history, or we could begin with the historic point of view and tracing that back up to the eternal decree of God. or we could begin on the linear aspect of this scheme of salvation at the start and go to the finish, or we might start with the finish and go to the start. We should be able to understand the whole scheme of the gospel message like the back of our hand. We can read the alphabet from beginning to end. We can approach it up, down to every side in every which way. That type of knowledge of the gospel is required if we're to be effective witnesses to our friends and family. But then you ask the practical question, what exactly is this great scheme of salvation? I'm to have a bird's eye view. Here it is, it's all wrapped up in one single expression, covenant of grace. The whole scheme of salvation is a covenant of grace. The covenant of grace is an eternal covenant drawn up and agreed upon by the triune Jehovah, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Under the terms and promises of this gracious covenant, God the Father has chosen a remnant of the human race as special objects of his love. He designates them vessels of honor. The Father then gives these vessels of honor into the hands of the Son, and the Son of God receives these persons into his special care. He also sets his eternal love upon them, and he agrees to assume the role of Redeemer. So that by his redeeming grace, his atoning blood at Calvary, the Lord Jesus Christ will shed his blood and atone for the sins of all these persons given by the Father to him. And then the father and son from eternity have taken these persons the father has chosen in his designated vessels of honor. The ones that the son has redeemed and made them vessels of mercy. The Father and Son deliver these same persons into the special care of the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit likewise sets His eternal love upon them, and He agrees to assume the role of sanctifier. that at the appointed time throughout the course of history, every one of these persons chosen by the Father and redeemed by the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, will absolutely, with full guarantee, be conquered by the Spirit of God, a new life imparted to their souls, granting them the experience of what Jesus ascribed as a new birth and sanctifying them through their lives. That, my friends, is the whole scheme of salvation, an eternal salvation brought to pass throughout the course of history. And that, brethren, is the message that should be delivered to your family and friends. That is the gospel of free and sovereign grace. All right, know what to share in the gospel message. Here's the second thing we can learn from the example of Paul. Know where to start your ministry. Know where to start your ministry. Now look, I use the term ministry not in a narrow sense. I'm not restricting it to the work of a pastor in a church or the work of a missionary on the mission field, an evangelist in the mission field. Rather, I'm using the term in the broadest sense of the word. I'm using it with reference to you. You, too, have a ministry. Every one of God's people should be a witness of Christ, a witness for Christ. In that sense, your ministry is to the persons you're responsible to be that witness to. Now, where do you start your ministry? That's the question. Take a look at Paul's example. When he came to Corinth, there's three persons, three groups of people he ministered to. We can learn from this policy that he used. Number one, it was Aquila and Priscilla. He met them at the market. At this point, they were not converts to Christ. These persons invited Paul to live with them at their house. We are not given the specific information on how Paul preached the gospel to them at home. We can only read between the lines, but we have every reason to believe that it was while Paul was living with that couple that they came to a saving knowledge of Christ. Then what did Paul do? He wasn't just preaching the gospel to the people with whom he was living. Secondly, on Saturdays, he went down to the local place of worship, the local synagogue. There he also preached the gospel. And when those persons rejected the message, he then extended his ministry by taking the gospel to the Gentiles in all of Corinth. Now, I believe if we apply that policy to the way in which we go about starting our ministry, we can learn some very wise principles here. Where do you start your ministry of sharing the gospel? You start with your family. You got unsaved parents, unsaved children, maybe a husband or a wife that hasn't yet come to a saving knowledge of Christ, maybe an uncle or an aunt, some cousins, The first place you begin your ministry is with those closest to you. But you don't stop there. You then branch out. You go to the place of worship like Paul did. Go down to your local church. And there you probably meet after the service several people that are not Christians. This is a perfect location for you to continue your gospel ministry. After a service, you meet these persons and you engage with them on the subject of Christ. And you don't stop there. Like Paul, you take this gospel to the whole city, meaning that when you go to school and you sit in your classroom and during break time or after school activities, you look for opportunities of sharing the gospel with your friends. You might even have an opportunity at some point to share the gospel with a professor, a teacher, or at work. You've got work colleagues or a boss. You share the gospel with those persons on the street, on the bus, on the train. You extend your ministry to any and all, God is pleased to bring along your path in his providential plan. Where do you start your ministry? I believe that's an excellent policy to follow. in your ministry of gospel sharing. Here's the third thing I wanna share with you. By way of Paul's example, we can learn when to shake the dust off our garments. If you're gonna be effective in preaching the gospel, then you've got to know when to shake the dust off your garments. I want you to notice what Paul did. He went to the synagogue and he fully and faithfully committed himself to those people. It was an extended period of time. He poured his resources, his time, his energies, all of his efforts into those persons gathering in the synagogue. He was fully committed to them. Until at some point, those persons rejected the message. As soon as they resisted or rejected that message, Paul cut off his ministry to them. And he then focused on a new group of persons to preach the gospel. I believe that's a very valuable lesson we can learn from Paul's example. You realize not every person is going to receive happily the message we bring to them in Christ. Let me share with you what Paul did by example is what Christ taught in principle to his disciples. Look at this in Matthew chapter 10. Jesus said, and into whatsoever city or town you shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy. And there abide till you go thence. And when you come into a house, salute it, greet it. And if the house be worthy, Let your peace come upon it. But if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents, harmless as doves. You see how Jesus gave that principle to his disciples? Of course, Paul was not one of the disciples that was personally privy to those words of Christ when they were spoken, but he no doubt understood the principle and applied it in his own ministry. Now, this is not all Jesus said with reference to preaching the gospel to the wrong group of people. Because in Matthew chapter seven, he also gave this counsel to his disciples. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before a swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. You see, the point is this. By all means, preach the gospel freely and fully to all. But at some point, you may encounter one or two or a group of people who reject that message. They despise the message. And in such circumstances, shake off the dust from your garments, from your feet, cut off your communication with them on gospel things. Commit yourself to them only so far that they're receptive to the message and then be willing and ready to release those commitments. Those persons prove to be carefree, obstinate, or resistant. Very often, because we live not far from Speaker's Corner over there at Marble Arch, and we often get people from the States coming over here, and they want to go to Speaker's Corner and preach the gospel. And over the years, we've had many people come to the church, visiting, and they tell us, oh, this afternoon, we're gonna go over to Speaker's Corner, preach the gospel. I discourage every time people doing that. The only people you're gonna find at Speaker's Corner are dogs and swine who gather for argument. They're not there to receive truth. They're there to trample those pearls under their feet and wring you, and you can guarantee it. You preach the gospel in an environment like that, you're not doing the work of Christ. I believe that is a dishonor to the gospel of Christ. You're going to a place you know is going to have the precious gospel of Christ trampled under their feet, and you're allowing it to be done. That is an abuse of preaching the gospel. We must be wise as serpents, gentle as doves. That's the counsel of Christ. Wise as serpents, gentle as doves. Be discerning who it is you're preaching to. You might have a very obstinate mother or father. They don't want to hear anything about the gospel. They get angry with you and it turns into a heated argument every time you bring up the subject. Then be careful not to bring up the subject very often. Look for the opportunities. Perhaps there'll be an occasion for your obstinate parent to be heartbroken and the Lord to do some work in the soul of that individual. But until that point, don't be unnecessarily antagonistic towards the unconverted. That's the point. Know when to shake the dust off your garments. Here's the fourth thing you should know if you're to be an effective witness for Christ. Know who to reach next. Know who to reach next. You know, the apostle Paul was always ready to preach to the next person or to the next group of people, regardless on how the first set of people received the message. I mean, he didn't take the attitude that because the Jews in the synagogue blaspheme God and oppose themselves and rejected the gospel, that somehow Paul is then going to give up his preaching ministry. and do something more profitable. He didn't take that attitude, did he? And yet you think about it, how many Christians are there that do take that attitude? They've preached the gospel a few times and they've received a very harsh and antagonistic response from those they've tried to minister to. And then they use that as an excuse to no longer preach the gospel to anybody. I'm saying to you, brethren, that is a wrong attitude to nurture. We should fully expect those to whom we preach the gospel will reject it. Because until a person is regenerated by the spirit of God, sinners will always reject the gospel. Sinners have only a sinful nature that controls and governs and dominates their thoughts and their feelings and their worldview. The scriptures describe an unconverted sinner as one who is blind and deaf and ignorant. They cannot see the glory and God in Christ. If you put a flashlight in front of them and shown it on the Bible, they can't see it. They're spiritually blinded to it. So when you preach the gospel to unconverted sinners, you should realize their response will always be rejection of that message until the spirit of God is pleased to conquer those hearts by his grace and grant to them a new nature in Christ, which then enables them to receive Christ and to believe on Christ. You see, here's the point, and this needs to be said in pulpits around the world today, of four pulpits around the world today. It is not the preacher or Christian's job to convert sinners. It is not the preacher or Christian's job to convert sinners. That work belongs to the spirit of God alone. He regenerates the soul. It is a mysterious work, a divine work, a powerful work that only God himself accomplishes. The work that I have as a preacher and the work that you have as a Christian witness is this. Set forth the truth, that's it. Like walking down the street and you see on display the jewelry on the display cases or the clothes items. And now it's Christmas, they're all trying to attract your attention. You see the stores putting on display their best merchandise. That's what we do at the gospel. We take the gospel and we put the great truths of the gospel of sovereign grace on display. We want our family and friends to see the truth. We put it on display, and that's where our work ends. If they reject it, they reject it. If they receive it, it's only because the Spirit of God has conquered those sinners, and they've now received those truths. That's the work of God. We stick to our work, and that is simply setting forth the great truths, the gospel of sovereign grace. Know who to reach next. Don't give up on preaching the gospel just because you've had a few negative experiences on preaching it to others. If your mother or father or son or daughter rejects the gospel, back off of the individual for a while. and go to a cousin, go to an uncle, go to a work colleague, and share the gospel with that person. Move on to the next person. Here's the fifth thing you should know to be an effective witness for Christ. Know why to remain steadfast. Know why to remain steadfast. Because I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, wait a second, if you only knew my family, my friends, if you only knew them, you wouldn't be telling me, giving me this type of counsel. I can't possibly minister to the gospel to any one of my family members. They're so antagonistic to the gospel. In fact, my work colleagues, they're all atheists. None of them want to hear what I have to say about the gospel. If you only knew what I have to put up with, you know then why I don't preach the gospel to anybody. I leave that work to the pastor or evangelist or some other Christian person who's better suited for the work. Well, if that's your attitude, this is the point I want to make. I want to bring this challenge to you. Know why you should remain steadfast on sharing the gospel. Look at the Apostle Paul as our example. He was being encouraged by the brethren to leave Corinth. They were afraid for his life. Perhaps Paul himself was tempted because of the possible persecution. He might leave Corinth and go on to the next place of ministry. But one night Paul goes to sleep and without any warning, God appears to him in a dream. And the content of what the Lord told Paul changed the apostle's mind, or at least changed the mind of the brethren who were giving Paul wrong counsel. What was the content that God spoke to Paul? Well, look, I'm gonna just very briefly give it to you, because it's very important message that God brought to Paul. Look, first, there's a twofold directive. You find this in the 18th chapter of Acts, verses nine and 10. The first directive was this, don't be afraid, God said. Don't be afraid. All right, there's rumors that your life has been threatened. Don't be afraid about that. Could you be persecuted? Don't be afraid. But rather, God says, speak. Hold not thy peace. Don't be timid. Don't be bashful. Don't go into a location and think, oh, there's no way this people can possibly receive what I have to say. No, you go in there without fear and you speak freely and openly. Don't hold anything back. You preach the whole counsel of God, the full gospel of grace, God says. There is the twofold directive. Don't be afraid. But speak openly, share the gospel. Now, look at the other thing we've got in these verses. God also told Paul, gave him a threefold reason for the directive. First, he said, because, look, I'm with you. That's he got no reason to fear. I'm with you. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil because thou art with me. The three Hebrew boys cast into the fiery furnace. It was turned up, the heat was turned up seven notches higher than the average heat. It was so hot that the soldiers that threw in the Hebrew boys, their clothes were burned up. These men burned up. And yet when the king looked into the fiery furnace, two things amazed him. Number one, there is a fourth figure as unto the son of God in the midst of that fire, but only three men were thrown in. And the other thing that amazed the king was that not even an inch of clothing was singed by the flames of that fire. And the point is this, the presence of God in the life of his people has always been the core reason why we fear not. And this is what God tells Paul in the midst of his gospel ministry. He says, don't be afraid because I'm with you. And the second reason he gave for that directive, no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. What I find interesting about the expression, I didn't have time to explore this in detail, so don't mark my words on this, but it would certainly be food for thought. Maybe you do your own research on the subject. Taking that expression, it's interesting, the words that were used by the Lord, no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. It's almost as if the Lord is not promising that Paul won't be hurt. but rather he's promising the hurt won't be permanent. No man shall set on thee to hurt thee. It's almost as if the Lord is saying to Paul, you might face some persecution here. There's going to be some hardships you're going to encounter, but you can mark my words, Paul, I'm going to preserve your life. I'm going to see to it that no one's going to set themselves on you as to destroy your life. I've still got work for you to do in this world, and I'll be sure to maintain your life, suffer the persecution if need be, but I'll preserve you." Here's the third reason that God gave to Paul to strengthen his steadfastness in continuing his gospel ministry at Corinth. He says, And so I've got the wrong words here, but he says, for I have much people in this city. I have much people in this city is what God told Paul. Isn't that interesting? Much people in this city. I think of everything the Lord gave as a reason to remain steadfast in his ministry at Corinth. It's that last reason that stands out to me the most. I have much people in this city. What is it that the Lord's telling Paul? He's saying to Paul, look, my elect people, those chosen by the Father and given into my hands, and we've given into the care of the Spirit, these persons are there in Corinth. There is work for you to do. Yes, they haven't yet been converted. They're still out there, sinners, the children of wrath, even as others. And you have work to do by preaching the gospel to all of the inhabitants of Corinth that my people in that city might hear that gospel by the effectual work of the Spirit of God be regenerated. and converted to Christ. That's encouraging. I don't know about you, but I've got family members that aren't yet saved. I don't know if these persons belong to the number of God's elect people. But my prayer every day is that in my family, God has much people. That there are elect persons in my family that will be saved. And as obstinate as these people are sometimes when the gospel is shared with them, I'm confident that if those persons belong to Christ, they will come to Christ in due time. And that gives me steadfastness in sharing the gospel. Let them reject, let them despise, but remain steadfast on setting forth the truth. All right, well, know why to remain steadfast. The last thing I want to share with you in reference to becoming an effective witness for Christ, know how to follow up. Know how to follow up. I want you to notice the all round ministry of Paul. He didn't just preach the gospel in an effort to introduce sinners to the kingdom of God, did he? No, in the narrative, we learn that he preached the gospel, sinners were saved, but then he oversaw the baptism of those new converts. And not just that, if you look, is it verse number 10 or 11? I think it's verse number 11. If you look in verse 11, we're told the poor remained in the city of Corinth for a year and a half doing what? Teaching. You see the word teaching? It's different from preaching. Preaching is a proclamation, a setting forth of the gospel of Christ. Teaching is slightly different than that. Teaching takes the same gospel message, but instead of proclaiming it, teaching explains it. Preaching is a work that we do towards those that are unconverted. We set forth the gospel to sinners, and the Spirit of God takes that message and applies it. Sinners are saved. Teaching, on the other hand, is primarily a work that pastors and other Christians do with reference to believers in Christ. Believers in Christ need to be taught And this is what Paul did. The year and a half he continued in Corinth, he taught the word of God. This means that he had a ministry focused on those that had already been saved. The point is this, know how to follow up with those that have been converted to Christ. I made reference twice already to this point. How many churches around the world today, pastors are doing a work of evangelism instead of pastoral ministry. Their message primarily centers around preaching and they do very little teaching. Preaching is the work of a missionary or an evangelist. The pastor, on the other hand, his primary work is that of teaching, teaching the people of God. Now, if you've sat under the ministry of a pastor who only preaches, your soul is going to be malnourished. You're not going to be brought up and trained and edified in the things of Christ the way you should be as a child of God. You should be under the ministry of a teaching pastor who edifies your soul and teaches you the whole counsel of God, gives you a little background to the truth of God. A preacher proclaims what the gospel says or is. A preacher explains why those things are the way they are. And Christians need the explanations why, not just what. Now, with that said, you look at the people in your life, your family, your friends. Has the Lord blessed your gospel ministry so that you've been privileged to become a person who's led a sinner to Christ? Has that ever happened for you? It's sad because most Christians had never experienced that before. I tell you this, there's nothing greater. I don't have children of my own. I can only imagine the joy that goes with the parents that are bringing new life into the world, and this is their flesh and blood, and the first breath of that child. You see the joy in the eyes and the face of those parents, right? There's something close to it. If you're ever privileged to lead a sinner to Christ and to witness the individual's expressions as the Spirit of God brings the person under conviction, the whole countenance changes. It's as if A mask is torn off the face and the soul is exposed and you can almost see the Spirit of God imparting a new life to the soul. And this individual right in front of you is transformed from a sinner into a saint. It's one of the most glorious sights to ever witness. And if you're privileged to be the person who's led that sinner along that path and the Spirit of God's blessed that work, my friend, you have become the spiritual parent to that individual. That's how Paul identified himself. He called himself the father, the spiritual father of those that he had led to Christ. And Paul ministered to those persons as a father does his children. What I'm trying to say to you, if you've ever been privileged to lead a sinner to Christ, you've become that person's spiritual parent. And if you're the spiritual parent to that individual, you're responsible to follow up with that person. Don't just let them thin for themselves. They need to be taught. They need to be nurtured and cared for and loved. These are baby Christians. And it's your job to feed them and to nurture them and to assure them and to love them and to feed them. This is what I mean when I tell you, you've got to know how to follow up if you're gonna be an effective witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me review this with you, all in conclusion. This is what you do, and we learn this from the example of Paul in our narrative. For you to be an effective witness, number one, you know what to share in the gospel message, the whole scheme of salvation. Number two, you know where to start your gospel ministry. Begin with those closest to you and then branch out. Number three, know when to shake the dust off your garments. Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves. Number four, know who to teach next. Don't give up just because you've had a few awkward and negative experiences on sharing the gospel. Number five, know why to remain steadfast. Fear not, God is with you and he has much people in this city. He has much people in your family. We trust the Lord with that. So remain steadfast on sharing the gospel. Number six, know how to follow up. Be sure you're not just sharing the gospel with unconverted sinners. Be sure you follow up and you then teach that same gospel to the sinners that have been converted to Christ. You know what that means sometimes? It means a child could become, in some respect, a parent to his or her parents. Not in a physical sense, and don't get me wrong, they're not going to overtake the authority of a parent, but in a spiritual sense. There are some children who have more spiritual wisdom, all spiritual wisdom knowledge, in comparison to a non-Christian parent. And in so being, that child could be an effective minister to a baby Christian parent. That's the beauty of the whole gospel message. We are not bound by age or by qualification to be effective witnesses for Christ. Well, it's all transcended when it's the spirit of God sanctifying us, working in us, empowering us, to be that witness we should be for the Savior. May the Lord bless us.