Let us turn to the book of Acts and we read from chapter 18 from the first verse of Acts 18. After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought, for by their occupation they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.' And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house named Justice, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptised. 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 he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. Let us join together in prayer. One writer uses these words to describe first century Corinth, This huge quagmire of refined voluptuousness and gross sensualism, the filthy rituals of idolatry, and the soul-debasing religions which made vile indulgence meritorious, the swaggering pride of supposed Greek wisdom, and the utter corruption of it all. Corinth was a large and important city in those days. It was very wealthy through commerce and so it was a city characterised by luxury and riches and people could obtain mostly what they wanted. And when that characterizes a place, apart from the common grace of God, it tends to mean that there is vice and immorality and spiritual degeneracy and depravity of all kinds. And certainly that was the case in Corinth. And yet, We read in Acts 18 and verse 1, After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. This must be Paul's next place to evangelise after Athens. Corinth had a population of around 200,000, people characterised by what we have heard described, and many Jews as well. and Jews had given Paul a hard time before in Thessalonica and Berea. No wonder then that facing the prospect of entering this city, he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 3, I was with you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling. he faced something that, humanly speaking, he would have rather avoided. And if he could have had his own will, he would have chosen some other place, perhaps, to minister in. And so Corinth can stand for us a very difficult situation in life. And perhaps you face such a situation you have been helped through before, but here is one that is worse, perhaps worse than you've had before, and you feel a sense of dread as you come to Corinth. The instinct is to do anything to avoid it. But the Lord was leading Paul His missionary journeys weren't ones that he planned himself, but was divinely directed, we can be sure of that, and he was being directed to Corinth. Now, it reminds us in passing, dear friends, that facing very difficult situations in life, we do not grow as Christians by avoiding those situations. but by finding the Lord's help in them. And this was true for Paul, as we shall see. And how often it has been for Christian people that the situation they dreaded the most has become the situation in which they were blessed the most, because our extremity is God's opportunity to prove himself and his sufficiency for us. So let us see how Paul fared as he ventured on the will of God and came to Corinth. How did the Lord help him there? Well, verses 1 to 11 will show us in Acts chapter 18. And first of all, see some providences We can see, as we look down these verses, certain divinely appointed things that were waiting for Paul at Corinth that made it far better for him than he feared. First, there was a congenial home base. Verses 2 and 3, he came to Corinth and found a certain Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla, a husband and wife who were Jewish Christians. And it's clear from the start that they became firm friends. We read, he abode with them. And that friendship lasted in Romans 16 and verse 3. The apostle sends greetings. to Aquila and Priscilla and he says that they are my helpers in Christ Jesus. Now this was clearly providential. The fact that they shared the same trade of the same craft, they were tent makers. It might seem strange that an intellectual like Paul, trained under Gamaliel in the prestigious place of learning in Jerusalem, should be a tent maker, have a craft, a trade, a skill. He was obviously trained in the Jewish law and was very clever, and yet he did tent making. The equivalent today would be, say, a barrister who was a king's counsel and a bricklayer. You don't normally get those two things put together, both worthy callings in and of themselves. But the fact was that in Jewish society, a man who was trained up in something intellectual was also urged by his parents to follow a trade as well. In fact, Matthew Henry tells us that Rabbi Judah says, he that teacheth not his son a trade is as if he taught him to be a thief. Probably something to fall back on if his first calling didn't work out. So Paul was a tent maker, and so were Aquila and Priscilla. And he abode with them. They could work together. making tents using animal skins to sew the pieces together and form them into tents that people would buy and use a lot as they traveled from place to place and had to stay the night under tents. So the blessing of like-minded friends in the Lord. Well that was a blessing to find such people there. Now another aspect of this in terms of providences that Aquila and Priscilla would not normally have been there in Corinth. Because second part of verse 2 says that they were lately come from Italy because that Claudius, the emperor, had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome. Now that was significant. Suetonius, the Roman historian, told us, he expelled the Jews from Rome who were constantly exciting tumults under their leader Crestus. Interesting how he lumped Jews and Christians together and says that they're both guilty of causing trouble. Well, the Jews sometimes were troublemakers, the Christians only caused trouble when they preached the gospel and they were then shouted at and persecuted. But anyhow, however it came about, he expelled the Jews from Rome and that meant that Aquila and Priscilla came to Corinth and were there at the time when Paul came, in the providence of God. And it was all the more remarkable that Claudius did this because history tells us that in the beginning he gave liberty to Jews. But after eight years, in AD 49, he expelled them from Rome. And so Claudius did Paul a great favour. He expelled Jews and Aquila and Priscilla through that ended up coming to Corinth for Paul's sake. And so Rome's loss was Corinth and Paul's gain. And doesn't it tell us how that God uses people in power who think that they're exerting their executive power, getting rid of these Jews from Rome, actually what Claudius was doing was fulfilling the will of God in providing friends for Paul at Corinth. I find that tremendously encouraging. Proverbs 21 verse 1 The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and as the rivers of water he turneth it whithersoever he will. And not for the first time in the Bible do we read that God has put into the mind and heart of rulers certain things to do which have served his church and served his people. so clearly providential. So Paul comes to Corinth, humanly speaking, dreading the thing and finding that God has been there ahead of him and provided these things. And then he's got the support of other friends. If you look at verse 5, when Silas and Timotheus would come from Macedonia, from further north in Berea, they hadn't come before this, They waited, but then they turned up at this time, just now when Paul really needed them as well. Silas and Timotheus, fine fellow servants of the Lord. And so the Lord timed this, the movements of these two men. in his kindness to Paul. And look at the effect it has upon Paul. In the second part of verse 5, when they came, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. You get the impression that now these two men have joined him, he's encouraged and has fresh strength to be able to boldly testify in the synagogue and seek to prove from the Old Testament that Jesus is the Jew's Messiah. It's a wonderful thing, you know, although we derive our strength firstly and mostly from the Lord, it's a wonderful thing when there is human support and friendship as well. It goes alongside with it. I remember my first funeral I conducted at Holywell back in 1993. And it was a time when there were serious difficulties in the church. And I was not looking forward to the prospect of walking down the aisle, guiding the coffin in. this dear man who had gone to heaven and we were going to bury him and there were certain ones in the congregation. But imagine my joy and relief when the previous minister who had known this dear man who'd gone to heaven very well said, shall I walk down the aisle with you? Sounds like a wedding, doesn't it? It's a funeral. But he walked down the aisle, and it put fresh strength into my soul. And we walked together as brethren. And I shall never forget the experience. The Lord does that. He supplies human company and support just when we need it. So Corinth's not so bad after all. And then here's something further. You've got a centre of operations. Look at verses 6 and 7. When the Jews reacted to Paul's preaching, they opposed themselves and blasphemed and shook. Paul shook his raiment and said, your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean, I will go unto the Gentiles. So he left the synagogue, where could he go now? Well, a man living right next door, justice, a God-fearer, perhaps not yet a Christian but an adherent of the Jewish religion and inclined that way, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And so there was a meeting place right there next door to the synagogue. And what a tremendous provision that was. Again, the Lord moved him to offer his home for this. It was risky, right next door to the place of trouble, and yet he did it. And so convenient. Any Jews who were wanting to hear Paul further and didn't want to get into trouble with their fellow Jews could just slip from the synagogue next door into Justices' house and hear the teaching there. You see, not only the hearts of kings, but the hearts of ordinary men are in the Lord's hand. Again, another example of this. I was told this and it was remembered by folk at Holywell. When the people of that time in the early 1970s left the English Presbyterian Church because of its liberalism and separated to form a separate evangelical church Based on the 1689 Baptist Confession, they of course lost the building, as well as the manse for the minister. Where could they meet now? They tried one or two locations, nothing really very suitable. And then the army cadets placed the Territorial Army Drill Hall In Halkin Street, just perfect, at the edge of the town, had a big hall, plenty of chairs, kitchen facilities. They applied for permission to hold weekly Sabbath services there. They were rejected. What could they do? Doubtlessly prayed. And then one of the deacons happened to be walking along Halkin Street one day and met a certain Major Mackenzie. And Major McKenzie said, I hear that you've been refused the use of the drill hall. Yes, leave it with me. And almost by the next Sabbath, they were in the drill hall. Isn't that remarkable? He wasn't a Christian. But they met there for a number of years, and it proved a very suitable venue until they got their own building, the present building, really just further up the road, which has been a deucen's, builder's, merchant's place, converted into a church. But you see, the Lord works in these ways. We shouldn't be surprised when he puts it into the hearts of even unbelievers to do his will. The blessing spreads, and look at verse 8. Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. There was blessing here now that was not there in Athens. If you look at the last verse, of Acts 17, just certain men claimed to Paul and believed, Dionysius, the Arab opergite and a woman named Damaris and others with them, not very many converts in Athens that had been an easier situation. Here in Corinth, which he dreaded, it became a place of greater blessing. If he had not come here, Humanly speaking, he would have missed it all. Extra blessing in an extra hard place. And look at verse 10, the second part of verse 10. I have much people in this city, says the Lord to Paul. There's more yet. Much people meaning many elect souls in the city. My people in terms of election, and redemption, but are yet to be called by grace. And no wonder we read in verse 11, Paul continued in Corinth a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. What a delight Corinth turned out to be. Far from what he dreaded and imagined and wished perhaps humanly to be spared, it turned out to be a fruitful field and an evidence of God's providential provision and guidance and the wonders of his grace. Ever remember that, dear friends. The things that we dread the most often, nearly always, turn out to be the place or the situation which grants the most blessing. It's waiting there for us. Let's not avoid hard situations, but go forward with God and believe that he will be with us. And he's prepared the way for us already. And who knows the great blessing that awaits us as we are faithful. So some providence is here. And the other lesson is this, some lessons themselves. some providences, some lessons. What do we draw from what we've seen already? Well this, if the Lord is leading us we have nothing to fear. The Lord went before Paul and prepared these providences and there was fruit that was waiting to be brought forth. And what wonderful discoveries Paul made as to what God can do and will do. And as Matthew Henry put it, if we be found in the way of duty, we shall find God with us in the way of help. That should be a motto for every Christian, shouldn't it? If we are found in the way of duty, we shall find God with us in the way of help. To be in the centre of the Lord's will is the place of blessing. You've got it illustrated in Numbers chapter 9. I was only reading this this morning in my consecutive reading through the Bible. In chapter 9 of Numbers Toward the end of the chapter you've got the account of how the fiery cloudy pillar led the Israelites and when the pillar settled they were to break camp and rest. And when the pillar moved on they were to pack up camp and they were to move and follow the pillar. And summed up in verse 23 of Numbers 9, at the commandment of the Lord they rested in the tents, at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed. They kept the charge of the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. But going back to verse 18, as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle, they rested in their tents. Wherever that cloud stopped, they stopped and they rested. they didn't have to worry about whether they were in the right place or not. And if we are in the centre of God's will, there is rest. There's no need to be fretting, anxious, wondering what might happen next. If Paul is in Corinth, he's got rest in his soul. The Lord is with him. If we're where the Lord wants us to be, then we can rest in the Lord and all will be well. But not before. Because you see, we don't need the comfort and the assurance until we come there. The anticipation of Corinth for Paul was worse than Corinth itself. As someone has said, you don't need the boat until you get to the river. and don't anticipate difficult situations, allowing them to build up in your mind, scenario after scenario, and getting worse and worse, and the devil whipping them up, and whipping fears and anxieties along with them. The fact is When you actually get to this difficult situation you'll get to the Lord being with you there and all these things will be taken care of. And so anticipate them rather in peace because you know that when you get there the Lord will not fail you nor forsake you. So not before. You might say, well, whenever I think of this situation, it fills me with dread. Well, it might do, humanly speaking. It fills me with dread sometimes too, but it need not. Think to yourself, why am I dreading it? What have I got to dread? Am I dreading God who's going to be with me in it? Am I dreading providence that's going to show itself on my behalf? Am I dreading his wonderful provision when I get there? Am I dreading the wonderful peace and rest in my soul that comes from doing God's will and being in the right place? There's nothing to dread. Believe that when you are there, you are there with the Lord. and all will be well. And a third lesson is this. There is no place too hard for the gospel. You would think that Corinth would be that hard place. Let me read you another summary of Corinth As we hear these words, it reminds us of today, doesn't it? The ideal of the Corinthian was the reckless development of the individual. Isn't that true? Individual, me, my identity, what I make my life to be. In the past, in better days, it was the development of character, and the development of a calling, development of a successful marriage and family life, development of doing good as neighbour. Now it's the development of the individual. The merchant who made his gain by all and every means, the man of pleasure, surrendering himself to every lust The athlete, steeled to every bodily exercise and proud in his physical strength, are the true Corinthian types. In a word, the man who recognised no superior and no law but his own desires. Now that's a portrait of today, and our cities are filled with people like this, aren't they? And the media projects these things as great things and desirable things, glamorizes them. But no place is too hard for the gospel. You'd think that Corinth would be even worse than Athens, but no, it was the reverse. If the Lord intends to build his church in a place, it will be built, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. In 1818, Dr. Thomas Chalmers had an assistant and a missionary who was assigned to St. John's Parish in Glasgow. And that place in 1818 was so degraded and so appalling in its poverty and vice and hardness. And the story is that the poor young man was dismayed at the sight of all these slums and tenements and steaming people, masses, and all the degeneracy. And apparently Thomas Chalmers turned to him and said, a capital place to begin. And he began. And the Lord is pleased to glorify his name even more in such places. In Revelation 2 and verse 13, we read of a church in Pergamos where Satan's seat is. There are particular places, the strongholds of Satan. where he has so blinded the minds and hardened the hearts and brought down people in depravity and degradation. But there was a church in Pergamos And if God leads a man to a church in such a place, well then, so be it. And that's a word to a minister, isn't it, who might be exercised about a certain pastorate. May there never ever be any minister who's a true minister who maybe is exercised about a call to a certain location and a certain church there, and humanly speaking, thinks to himself, I could never move there. I live there. It's so different from what I've been used to. All the instincts are against it. My dear friend, remember Corinth, and remember that God calls people to such places. And woe betide us if we don't follow that call and wait for something nicer and something better. A nicer place where the good people there would make nice Christians. Never may it be. The Corinth's of this world need men of God, need Pauls. And God is waiting for such Pauls in the Corinth's of this world to do great things. And so may it never be that a minister picks and chooses the nice places he would like to go in preference to others that he would far rather not go and, like Moses, Lord, please send somebody else rather than I go to Pharaoh and demand that he let the people of Israel go. And fourthly, never balk at any situation. Instinct might want to be spared, to avoid something else? But Paul here regarding Corinth, God had blessings in store that Paul never could have imagined. The danger is that sometimes we're guided subjectively, emotionally, not biblically and providentially. All here was led by the Spirit according to the Word of God. And then, dear friends, finally, when something is of God, nothing can stop it. To the church at Philadelphia, the Lord said these encouraging words, In Revelation 3 and verse 8, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. go through the open door, that little strength will become greater strength, and God's grace will be sufficient, and His strength will be made perfect in weakness. When we go through into our Corinth, whatever it is, we go into the will of God, we go into the blessing of God, and He will be honored, and He will be glorified, and we'll be thankful that ever we were given grace to obey and do the will of God. from the heart. And here's the sequel to it all, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 4. I quoted 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 3 earlier where Paul honestly shared his feelings about the prospect of Corinth but then you get this sequel. Yes, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And then verse 4, And my speech and my preaching was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And you see, God can replace the weakness, the fear, the much trembling, with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, the Holy Ghost, His comfort, His strength, His enabling. And that is the secret as well as the sequel of it all, isn't it? To go forward in the strength of the Lord, making mention of His righteousness and of His only. Well, may our Corinth's turn out to be better than we fear, and may they turn out to be more blessed than we ever imagined they could be. To the glory of his name. Amen.