Welcome to this podcast from Harvest Community Church of Huntersville, North Carolina, where our vision is to make disciples who make disciples. I'm your host, Liz Stefanini. Well, there's an expression that I'm sure you've heard and used probably, down but not out. down, but not out. Take just 30 seconds or so, maybe a minute to turn to somebody that's beside you. What do you think about when you hear that expression down, but not out? Just take a, take a second there with one or two people around you and see what, what that brings to your mind. Well, I don't know if you thought of something medical, maybe someone is sick, had a setback, but they're still going, or maybe lost a job, and they got knocked down, it seemed like, but they kept going, they're not out. I believe the expression probably originated in boxing, in the arena of boxing, right? The boxer gets knocked down, but they don't get knocked out, so they get back up to fight some more. Well, today, we're gonna look at somebody who was down But by God's grace, he was definitely not out. And that's the Apostle Paul, Acts chapter 18. If you're following along, I invite your attention there. We're teaching through the book of Acts here on Sunday mornings at harvest. We're glad those of you that are here, those that were at the early service and those of you that are visiting us online. In growing strong in the seasons of life, Chuck Swindoll wrote this, surely in the home and heart of some, There is a silent sigh, a twinge of spiritual fatigue, a deep and abiding weariness. It's no wonder. Our pace, the incessant activity, the noise, the interruptions, the deadlines and demands, the daily schedule, and the periodic feelings of failure and futility bombard our beings like the shelling of a beachhead. Our natural tendency is to wave a white flag shouting, I give up, I surrender. Now there are times when all of us need a shot in the arm, right? And we're going to look at one of those times for one of the most famous Christians who ever lived, the Apostle Paul. You know, sometimes these believers that we read about in the Bible, we tend to put them up on a pedestal as if they didn't have the same temptations and problems that we do. But that is not the case. Though they were greatly used by God, they had the same weaknesses and temptations that we did. And we're going to see that today. Acts chapter 11. Let me read the first 11 verses for us, and we'll cover the rest of it as we go along. After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them and because he was a tent maker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath, he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am innocent of it. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles. Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justice, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. One night, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision. Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you because I have many people in this city So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. This is the word of God. Well, let me set the stage for us. Let me set the context for what we are coming to here in Acts chapter 18. After difficult experiences in several Macedonian cities, the apostle Paul arrived in Corinth in a weakened state. But God refreshed and revitalized him to continue in the work of the gospel. The passage starts out in Acts 18. After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. So the natural question, if you're reading along, if you just happen to pick it up and go, after what? Well, this is after what? This map shows some of the cities in Macedonia that Paul was ministering to. This was what we know as the second missionary journey of Paul. In fact, our passage today concludes the second missionary journey. There were three of them, and this is the second one. Went up there first to Philippi. Does anybody remember what happened in Philippi to Paul? well there he met the very first convert on European soil Lydia and and she was part of the first church and somebody else was part of the first church a Jailer and the reason why the jailer was part of the first church was because Paul and his team got thrown in jail Paul and Silas were put in jail and they were beaten and Not a very happy experience for preaching the gospel. So after Philippi, then he goes to Thessalonica and in Thessalonica, the Jewish people there, Paul was Jewish and he was preaching about the Jewish Jesus who was the Messiah and they got stirred up and they were opposed and they essentially ran him out of town. And then he went to Berea. Oh, Berea is a much better place, right? Because in fact, it says the Bereans were interested in the word of God and they were interested in learning from the scriptures and that's great. But the people in Thessalonica, the opponents in Thessalonica heard what was going on in Berea and what did they do? They went to Berea themselves and stirred up more problems. So they came up with a plan. Paul, we're gonna send you down to Athens. and just you, and we'll meet you later, but we're gonna send you to Athens. And in Athens, indeed, Paul had the great opportunity, and this is what we covered last Sunday, a great opportunity to preach the gospel to the secular mind there in Athens. And indeed, some people believed, which was great. But a lot of people were noncommittal about it, and a lot of people made fun of Paul and called him a fool. So you see, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens. And now, after this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. So when you read that simple statement in your Bible, you know that Paul has been going through a lot. Paul is troubled. Paul has been attacked physically, and emotionally. One thing I love about going through Acts is it helps us learn about some of these other places in the New Testament, these other letters that you read. You get a glimpse like Thessalonians with Thessalonica and Philippians with Philippi and now Corinth with Corinthians. We know exactly how Paul came to Corinth. In fact, 1 Corinthians 2, a letter that he wrote to that church at Corinth later, here's what he says about his own state when he got to Corinth. He says, and so it was with me, brothers and sisters, when I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaim to you the testimony about God for I resolve to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. You might not have thought of the apostle Paul in that way. You might've thought of him as a very confident man, but he came with weakness and fear and trembling to Corinth. Now Corinth was the third largest city in the Roman empire of that time. It was a center of commerce, a center of trade. It was well known, it was well populated, but it also had a reputation for sensuality. There was a lot of moral problems throughout the Roman Empire in the first century, but the city of Corinth was the center of the worship of one false god named Aphrodite, which was the goddess of sex. And so in Corinth there was a hill, the Acro-Corinth, on the backside of the city where there was a temple to this particular goddess. And at night there were a thousand sacred prostitutes, quote, sacred prostitutes that would come down into the city and do prostitution, worshiping the God or the goddess of sexuality. No wonder Paul was a little bit shaken up after everything he had experienced in Philippi and Thessalonica and Berea and Athens. And now he comes to this moral cesspool and he wonders, he had to wonder, am I gonna make it? Is this gonna work? What's gonna happen here? So Paul was discouraged. And what happens in Acts 18? I love what happens in Acts 18. Paul ends up staying at Corinth for 18 months. That's a long time for the Apostle Paul. Some of these other places he just stayed a few weeks, but he stayed there for 18 months. So this discouraged Weak man comes and God creates things to happen that rejuvenate him God strengthens him God enables him and God puts him on the path so that he can indeed keep preaching the gospel and he can indeed plant a church there and So what happened? How does God rejuvenate His workers? That's the question for us today. There are three things that happened in Acts 18 that rejuvenated Paul, and today maybe some of you need to be rejuvenated for the work of God. If so, I hope that God will give you hope and encouragement as well. Let's look at what these three things are. First of all, God builds teams of workers that experience true fellowship. That is partnership. Let me go back into verse two there that's found in the first six verses in verse two. He met a Jew named Aquila. who had recently come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome, Paul went to see them. And because he was a tent maker, as they were, he stayed and worked with them. So Paul gives, or God gives Paul encouragement through Aquila and Priscilla. In AD 49, the Roman Emperor Claudius made a ruling that he was going to expel all the Jews out of Rome. There was a riot there that was related to someone called Crestus, which we believe was Jesus. And he blamed the Jews and so he expelled them. Priscilla and Aquila lived in Rome. So they left from Rome and they went to the city of Corinth and their profession was they made tents. They worked with leather or tents. Paul also was a tent maker. So Paul comes to Corinth and here are these Jewish believers, Priscilla and Aquila. He meets up with them. He established a friendship with them. They start working together in the gospel and in fact, They invite him to stay with him. So here's this discouraged servant of Christ that God says, you know what? I'm going to put an unlikely couple in your path, Priscilla and Aquila. And here they are. It gives it gave him encouragement. In fact, Six years later, in AD 55, the Emperor Caligula died. And when he died, Priscilla and Aquila moved back to Rome. They lived there and they probably, or seemingly hosted a house church at Rome. If you read the book of Romans, you come to Romans 16 at the end, Paul's giving all kind of greetings. And look what he says in Romans 16, three, greet Priscilla and Aquila. my co-workers in Jesus Christ. They risked their lives for me. Not only I, but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Now, In verse five, back in Acts 18, more of the team shows up. Priscilla and Aquila were new team members. Silas and Timothy had already been on the team, but they had been separated from Paul. But look what happens in verse five. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. So here, I put three things and I think all of these things are rolled in with the team. Friendship, financial support, and concentration. Paul was able to concentrate on preaching. Now this reminds me of the account in the Old Testament. When Elijah the prophet was discouraged and he was like, I think I should just die, Lord, there's no one No one else in Israel that's serving you. He was ready to quit. He was ready to throw in the towel. And what did God give him? Well, one thing, God gave him a good long nap. He rested, and then he gave him Elisha. David, when he was running from Saul, God gave him Jonathan. God gives us friends to work, to minister, and to minister together. Now, does anybody remember where Timothy was coming from? Remember Silas and Timothy? One of the places was Thessalonica. They had been in Thessalonica. Well, if we turn to 1 Thessalonians 3, Paul writes to that Thessalonian church about what is happening here in Acts 18. But Timothy has just now come from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers and sisters in all our, see the next words, distress and persecution, we were encouraged about you because of your faith. Do you see what's happening here? Up in Thessalonica, where Paul had ministered and gotten run out of town, the church was thriving. The church was doing well, but Paul's Instagram account was down. He couldn't log on to Facebook. He couldn't know what was going on there. So what happens? God said, Paul is discouraged. He's in distress. He's under persecution. He's down. Guess what? Here comes Silas and Timothy. Hey, Paul, we got great news for you. You know, the church in Thessalonians, their faith is thriving. They are doing well. You see what God's doing here? God's rejuvenating Paul. Here's Aquila and Priscilla, and now here's Silas and Timothy, and they're bringing great news about the church in Thessalonica. They not only brought great news, they also brought money. 2 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 9, Paul said, when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I've kept myself from being a burden to you in any way and will continue to do so. We also read about this in Philippians, Philippians chapter four. Paul says, yet it was good of you to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you only. So think about this. Here's Paul. He was a tent maker, and he was willing to make tents. He was willing to support himself, but if he spent the time supporting himself doing that, that was going to give him less time to go out and preach the gospel, right? So he's discouraged. He's working with tents. God sends Silas and Timothy and these brothers and sisters who were supporting Paul's missionary work financially sent an offering, a missionary offering at the hands of Silas and Timothy and they gave it to Paul. And now Paul can devote himself exclusively to preaching and teaching. That's why I put concentration up there. Paul was encouraged, he had friendship, He had financial support and that enabled him to be able to focus on preaching. God puts teams of people together. Different people on the team do different things. Some preach, some pray, some give, but God puts the team together and that's what he's doing here. I want to say a couple things about that as we even think about applying it here today at Harvest. First of all, to the congregation who serves in so many ways, but including financially, you guys give and your support, your financial support allows some of us to do this full-time. The team that's in place here is able to focus on our ministry because we don't have to have another job. I'm talking about the full-time pastors now. Also, 16 missionary families are supported by Harvest. So when you give an offering, every offering you give, 18% of it goes to missions. And we have missionaries in many other parts of the world that they couldn't support themselves financially. But because our church and others are saying, hey, we're gonna support you, we're gonna be behind you, this creates an encouragement, but it also creates the opportunity for them to serve God exclusively. That's teamwork, and that's awesome. I also wanna say just something about our local team right here. Our staff team right here. I'm looking around some of them are right here with us. I see Amy Doing social media. I see Nikki who we call super glue who does a little bit of everything our admin Assistant, I see Corey our new team member. I don't see Jim Bennett, but I know he's out there just out through those doors Heidi is in Nigeria right now Richard is here serving in so many ways. Martin Brammel, you don't see him, but he takes care of our facilities. He cleans, he does maintenance. Chad is over here helping us in the area of music and worship. You know what? Praise God for our team. I thank God for our team. It is fun to serve with this team. This is a team that's serving you and equipping you to make disciples and helping in many ways. But as I look at this passage in Acts 18, I think, wow, this is the way God does it. He puts teams together. He says to those teams, here you go, work together and I will work with you. And I want to thank you on behalf of our staff team for your support. And I want to thank you on behalf of our missionary team who are able to be serving the Lord Exclusively. Well, that's the first thing that God does to rejuvenate his workers. He puts these team together second thing if we look at verses 9 to 11 he promises his own presence and protection Verse 6 tells us we're not gonna read verse 6 right now We already read it that as Paul a this team's coming together and back together and it's great and things are wonderful but The Jews in Corinth, like the Jewish people in many places in the first century, just rejected Paul's message and they became abusive to him. And Paul had to be wondering, oh no, are we going, is it here we go again? What's gonna happen? How bad is this going to get? Well, especially verse 8, the synagogue ruler himself becomes a Christian and now Paul's in danger. But what does the Lord do? Look at verse 9. Right in the middle of all of that, one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision. Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you because I have many people in this city. This is what God does. He speaks. He comes. He comes to Paul. He says, I am with you. I am there. And I have many people in this city. Paul, you don't have to worry about whether people are gonna be saved or not. I have people in this city. And your ministry is going to work. I am going to be with you. I am going to protect you. This language is reminiscent of the way God, the language that was used in the Old Testament when God would come to people and say, I am with you. For instance, Isaiah. Chapter 43, verse 2, when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west." God did not promise them that they wouldn't walk through the flames or that they wouldn't walk through the waters, but that as they walked through the waters, He would be with them. And he said this when he called people to do things like in Exodus chapter three, God is calling Moses and Moses said to God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt? And God said, I will be with you. And this will be the sign that it is I who has sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God. on this mountain. God says that same thing to the apostle Paul. I'm going to be with you, Paul. No one is going to attack you and harm you because I have many people in this city. This is especially applicable as we think about how can we apply this today. This is especially applicable to those who are saying I am on God's team. I am on God's side. I am trying to witness for Christ. I am trying to make disciples of others. I am out in the work of God. And if you are out in the work of God, working for God as Paul did, God says to you, I am with you. I am with you. And what did Paul do as a result? This weak, discouraged man wondering what is going to happen, verse 11. So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half teaching them the word of God. So here's an important principle. When God rejuvenates his workers, God rejuvenates his work. That's the way the work of God gets rejuvenated. The workers who need to be rejuvenated themselves, they get rejuvenated and that enables them to keep on working and ministering. I heard H.B. Charles, Jr., a message by him. He was doing the convocation at Liberty University and he told a story. And those who have young children and those who are grandparents will be able to relate to it. I'm sure instantly the grandfather was there at his daughter's house. He was with his daughter and granddaughter and they had a playpen. And the daughter put the baby a year or so old in the playpen and said, I want her to be in the playpen for a while. I want her to get used to it. I want her to be able to, you know, function in there. So there she is. And he puts the baby in the playpen and she leaves and the grandfather sitting over there. And then what does the baby do? Start crying. So what does the grandfather do? Naturally, the grandfather goes to the playpen, picks the baby up, comforts the baby, rocks the baby, holds the baby, all is good. But the mother comes back in and she's not happy. And she says, Dad, I told you I wanted her to stay in the playpen. You're going to have to put the baby back in the playpen. So grandfather's heart's just kind of, oh, you know, but they put the baby back in the playpen. Mom goes out to do her thing. Guess what happens? Baby starts crying again and the grandfather sitting there going. Now I know my daughter doesn't want me to get that baby out of the playpen. So he has an idea. And the grandfather actually gets in the playpen himself. With the baby. And holds the baby and all is well. And the point he was illustrating is that's what God does for us sometimes. He doesn't always take us out. Of the problem. But in the problem, he will come and be with us. And he said to Paul, I am with you, and I wonder how many of you today need to hear that. You need to hear God saying to you, look, I am with you. That's how God rejuvenates his work. He rejuvenates his worker by promising his presence and his protection. Well, there's one more thing as we wrap it up. God opens doors for ministry. There are two things that happen in this passage that you could never have planned humanly. They just they are so such God things in verse seven and eight. Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius justice a worshiper of God so the synagogue people are abusing him and right next door there happens to be a house where somebody worships God and Christmas the synagogue leader and his entire household believed in the Lord and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul, believed, and were baptized. So here is, who's God going to use to help his missionaries? The synagogue leader. Where they were abusing Paul, well, let's just convert the synagogue leader. The second thing that happens is a government official, Galio, no friend of Christianity, gets involved. Verse 12, while Galio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth, made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law. And just as Paul was about to speak, Galileo said to them, if you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law, settle the matter yourselves. Settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things." So he drove them off. And then the crowd there turned on Sothsenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the proconsul and Galio showed no concern whatever. So God uses the synagogue leader, the first one, Crispus, who becomes converted. And then now he uses a government official. who the people are saying, oh, this is illegal in government official. You know what? I'm not getting involved with that. God opens doors, God opens doors for ministry. And so then the next few verses, we kind of wrap up the the second missionary journey. Paul stayed in Corinth for some time. He left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cancria because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declared, Or he declined, but as he left, he promised I will come back if it is God's will. Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and went down to Antioch. End of story. Second missionary journey. When God builds his church, he rejuvenates his workers through ministry partners and his own presence. Before you go home, I wanna give you four quick ways that you could put this message into practice today. Number one, if you're a harvester, if you're committed to this church, I wanna encourage you to get on a local team and help build it. Serve with others. Secondly, encourage and support our missionary team members. We've seen how God can use people as they send words of encouragement and as they send financial support to missionaries. And I want to encourage you to do that for our missionary partners and our team members. Letters and calls and gifts and prayers. Number three, remember that God is with you. God is with you. If you're his child, God is with you. And then number four, exalt God for the way He works through weakness and dark situations. Corinth was dark. Paul was weak. And yet, we see amazing things happen at Corinth. Praise God for that. And some of you might feel like, man, I'm living in a dark situation. I'm living in a dark culture. I'm living in a dark society and I'm weak. Anybody feel that way? Any parents struggling? Am I doing it the right way? Any worker wondering, is my ministry going to bear any ultimate fruit? Listen, in dark situations and weakness, that's when God shines his light and that's when he gets the glory. So let's praise God for that. Galatians chapter six, this Paul would write to the Galatians that we haven't read about yet. Let us not become weary in doing good. For at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. And Paul would say to these Corinthians, therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm, let nothing move you, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. I close with this story, a pastor in California who was a surfer. told the story, went out one day on the coast, he was gonna do some surfing, and there was nobody there except one person. He saw one huge guy on the beach, a big, massive guy that was practicing martial arts, and the rest of the beach was empty. So he goes out, he's surfing, and then seemingly out of nowhere, here comes another little surfer, and it's a little boy. And they introduce themselves to each other and they start talking. And this pastor looks at the little boy and says, uh, how long have you been surfing? And he says, seven years. And he said, how old are you? And he said, eight. And here he is in, in the Pacific ocean. And this, he said, this little boy could be surfing like on a Frisbee. And he's thinking this boy's all by himself. And he says, are you out here by all by yourself? And then he turns and he points to the huge guy with the martial arts. And he says, no, that's my father. I'm not alone. And I want to say to you, Harvest. God is with you. You are not alone. Let's bow our heads for prayer, please. The little boy was never alone because his father was always watching. And God, the heavenly father, is always watching us. He's not only watching us. But he's with us. I want to encourage you to keep going. I want to encourage you to keep ministry. Encourage you to keep serving. I encourage you to keep loving others on your team and building a team and our missionary team. Do it all for the glory of God. Thanks again for joining us today from Harvest Community Church. This podcast is also available on our website HarvestCharlotte.com. Please go there if you want to send a question or comment, learn more about our ministries, or find out how you can donate to support the podcast.