Let's open our Bibles now to Acts 18. Acts 18. As we've already read in verses 1-17, we see the Lord at work here again through the Apostle Paul and his co-workers as we see the Word of God continue to spread throughout the world. Models for biblical ministry are becoming more and more scarce today. However, trendy models abound. There is no shortage of man-centered approaches to church ministry that are able to fill buildings with bodies, but whether or not they are able to firmly establish believers in the Word of God in sound doctrine is highly questionable. If you want to become a purpose-driven church, then there is an earthly business model that you can follow. If you want to become a seeker-driven church, then there is an earthly, worldly model that you can follow. If you want to become a visual-oriented church, replacing preachers with actors on stages, then there is an earthly, tech-savvy model that you can follow. If you want to become a hip-hop church, then there is all the appropriate shenanigans and music to accomplish that. And on and on it goes. But if you want to be a biblical church, there are less and less earthly models to follow, at least prominent ones. Thankfully, though, the trendy churches may capture the media spotlights. There is an increasing number of younger and older men who are returning to the old paths, not simply because they are old, but because the Holy Spirit is working in his church to call men back to the word of God. When I go away to conferences and meet thousands of these young and old men alike, it encourages me greatly. We need more and more men who will believe that the New Testament does not merely provide us with the message that we are to preach, but also provides us with the methods that we are to follow so as to accomplish the Lord's work in the Lord's way. Acts chapter 18 provides us with one of those models. Let's look at the text together, and I want you to note this morning that there are three ongoing disciplines of ministry that are revealed in this passage of Scripture. Three ongoing disciplines of biblical ministry. The first is receive hospitality from fellow believers. Receive hospitality from fellow believers, and we will see in these verses and throughout the text that there is an emphasis upon the working of teams of men and women together in serving the Lord. Notice it says in verse one, after these things, he left Athens and went to Corinth. These Things takes us back to chapter 17 where we left off last time we were in the book of Acts where Paul was preaching on Mars Hill. There he preached a totally God-centered message to the idolatrous people of Athens, the city of idols. And after that, he then traveled west across a very narrow strip of land bordered on both sides by water, connecting two large parts of Greece. Corinth was a leading city in ancient Greece, extremely wealthy because of this ideal location. Instead of traveling 250 miles around the peninsula, Sea travelers journeyed over this narrow strip of land referred to as an isthmus on which Corinth was located, which made Corinth a large commercial city where one writer says the volume of goods conveyed across the isthmus contributed considerably to the amount of transit taxes Corinth collected. The city then served as a center for trade. It was served by two ports on the opposite sides of this four mile wide stretch of land. The city was also an entertainment center. It hosted the Isthmian Games, one of the two great athletic events of that day held every two years, second only to the Olympic Games, which originated in the city of Olympia, Greece in 776 B.C. That puts a little history to what is going to begin this week. Games that follow a tradition that has been in place for over 2700 years. It's a long time. Corinth was destroyed by Rome in 146 BC, rebuilt by Julius Caesar 100 years later. In Paul's day here, as we see Paul entering the city of Corinth, it was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire. Population of about 600,000 people and noted primarily for its immorality. The city contained the temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of fertility, which housed over 1,000 temple prostitutes. The city was so well known for its immorality that to commit these sins was to Corinthianize. The famous Congregationalist pastor in London G. Campbell Morgan wrote of Corinth, quote, At the time it was one of the greatest cities in the Roman Empire, characterized by wealth, luxuriousness and lust, by extreme cleverness and the arguments of its philosophers. The language used then was supposed to be the highest form of the Greek language. There was a phrase of the time to speak as they do at Corinth, which meant they spoke with accuracy and beauty and with artistic finish. Corinth was the center of everything intellectual on the level of their own philosophies. But it was rotten at heart, utterly corrupt, given over to every manner of lasciviousness. So this is the kind of environment to which the first missionaries took the gospel. Very proud, intellectual, immoral city. This immoral trade center was the perfect place in the eyes of the Apostle Paul to establish a church that would spread the gospel throughout the world. There, according to verse two, he found a Jew named Aquila. and his wife, Priscilla. Perhaps he is meeting these people for the first time. Perhaps he knows them through business connections, because we do see that verse three tells us that they were of the same trade, that they were tent makers. Aquila and Priscilla are mentioned six times in the New Testament, and every time they are mentioned, they are referred to in a way that draws attention to their servanthood to the Lord and their connection with the Apostle. They are a biblical model of hospitality. They are in Corinth, according to verse 2, because of a command from a government leader. So verse 3 tells us that Paul met this couple there in Corinth. He stayed with them. They opened their home to him. And they were working together on the same trade. That is, they were tent makers or literally leather makers or makers of things out of leather. That's what they did. was their skilled trade. They made products from furs and animal skins. And this is how the Apostle Paul sustained himself, provided for his own needs. In fact, 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 9, He testifies, For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day, so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. As Paul traveled from place to place, he took his skilled trade with him. He was able to sell the things that he made so as to provide for himself so that he would not become, as he referred to, an unnecessary burden upon the churches. As he was planting new churches, he did not want to be a burden to them. He wanted them to get off to a good, strong start. And so he provided for his own needs. And because of this pattern, the term tent maker has now become synonymous with a missionary who works a secular job. Secular in the sense of outside the church, not secular in the sense that it didn't matter to God. in order that he might carry on the work of the gospel. So that's what Paul did. And so in some foreign cultures today, this is how missionaries get into the country. They get into closed countries by holding a legitimate career. They get into that country by virtue of that tent making job. And from that, they are able to then establish relationships and reach out with the gospel in informal ways. Now a key point that we need to understand here is that though we often read of Paul's name, Paul went here, Paul went there, he functioned with a team of ministers. He had a companion, Silas. He had a companion named Luke. Timothy, at many times, was his companion. Here in this text, we see this couple Aquila and Priscilla coming alongside, being key players of the ministry team by extending hospitality and encouragement to the apostle. So a biblical principle here that we want to understand or a discipline is that those who are involved in biblical ministry are going to be committed to doing it alongside other believers as much as is possible. And to do that, there needs to be the willingness to receive hospitality from others and not have a Lone Ranger mentality. We're going to do this on our own, our own way. God uses other people to strengthen us and to help our ministry. The second ongoing discipline that we see is found in verses four and five, and that is where to persuade unbelievers with the word of God. Persuade unbelievers with the word of God. It says in verse four, and he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. This was Paul's pattern, we've seen this already throughout the book of Acts thus far, is that every time he or the other missionaries went into a new city, they went to the synagogue. Why? Because there they would find people already gathered for worship. Also because he understood that the gospel was to go first to the Jew and then to the Gentile. So he was there in the synagogue every Sabbath, every Saturday. He was there preaching to the Jews who had gathered. And obviously there were some Greeks as well there. Gentiles who had perhaps converted to Judaism. He was reasoning. The word means to discuss or address or preach. So there he was. He was defending the Word of God and particularly the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was defending and presenting Jesus Christ as the Messiah. It says in verse 5, But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word. I'm so grateful for the Holy Spirit recording other events in other portions of the scriptures to help us understand what Luke means here in verse five when he says, but when Silas and Timothy came, there was a change. Paul was able to dedicate himself fully to the ministry of the word. What we don't see here in this text, we find in 2 Corinthians 11 9. Part of the reason for Silas and Timothy's trip was to bring cash offerings to the Apostle Paul. to support him in his work as a missionary. Second Corinthians 11.9 says, And when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone. For when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need. And in everything, I kept myself from being a burden to you and will continue to do so. So Silas and Timothy are the ones referred to here in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 9. They came from Macedonia. They brought offerings from the other churches so as to support the work of the ministry. So here's another example of team ministry was because of the gifts from these Macedonian believers that the apostle was able to temporarily cease his tent making responsibilities and devote himself totally and exclusively to the work of the ministry, to the ministry of the word. This reminds me of our early days here at Emmanuel 18 years ago. When I accepted God's call to pastor this church, my wife and I moved here with our first five children for an agreed-upon salary of $200 a month and a house to live in. And in those early years, I worked several other jobs, night and day, working in addition to the church to provide for my family. But as the church grew numerically and spiritually, my compensation was increased to the point where I was able to terminate those other jobs and dedicate myself fully to the work of the church. It's been a wonderful encouragement. Like the Apostle Paul, this devotion to the teaching of the Word of God is a mark of biblical ministry. And the priority that our church places upon the preaching of the whole counsel of God is, in my opinion, one of the chief reasons why God has done and continues to do remarkable things among us. God has not taken this congregation from 12 people to over 200 because of trendy gimmicks and programs. This church lives today and grows today as a testimony of the power of the Spirit of God to use the Word of God to save people and to transform them into the image of Christ. And it is for His glory. in His glory alone. And God continues to answer the prayers that I prayed as I walked this sanctuary many times in 1992. And I said, Lord, do something on the corner of North 25th and Superior Avenue that only You can take credit for. Nothing fancy. No new programs that save the world. But just exalt yourself through the preaching of your word and through the love of the brethren and through discipleship. So I'm grateful that by being able to dedicate myself to the word of God, that this church is able to be strengthened and equipped for gospel outreach. or ministry to one another, not only here in Sheboygan, but to the ends of the earth. That's why we exist. And if we ever lose sight of that, we should close our doors and sell the property. God wants us to be committed to the proclamation of his gospel and the edification of those who name the name of Christ. There's a third ongoing discipline of biblical ministry here in verses 6 through 17, and that is we must persevere through various forms of opposition. Again, we have seen this so many times already in the book of Acts. I know it sounds redundant, but I can't help that. The Holy Spirit has chosen to be redundant because we are hard of hearing and we don't tend to listen to God the first time. And so we see again this principle that we need to persevere through various forms of opposition. To be expected, Jesus warned his disciples that biblical ministry will always face opposition. In John 15, verse 18, Jesus said, If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this, the world hates you. So if you are a follower of Jesus Christ and the world hates you, Why are you surprised? You ought not to be. Jesus said, if they hated me, they'll hate you, too. Paul and the other missionaries faced various forms of opposition, sometimes from within the church, sometimes from outside the church. Second Corinthians, chapter seven, verse five, Paul writes, for even when we came into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest. But we were afflicted on every side. Conflicts without fears within. He goes on to list chapter four and chapter ten of that epistle. Many of the kinds of affliction that the apostle Paul experienced. Well, if we are to persevere through various forms of Opposition. We need to discipline ourselves in four ways. First, we must preach to those who will listen and obey, preach to those who will listen and obey verse six. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean for now. I go to the Gentiles. So he went to the synagogue. He preached the gospel. He lifted up Jesus Christ. That's what verse five tells us. But the Jews who were there did not want to hear that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Jesus of the Nazareth of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, was their Messiah. They didn't want to hear that. So they resisted him. They blasphemed him, verse six. As a result, he shook out his garments and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads. What does that mean? He says, I am clean. What it basically means is that Paul washed himself of any further responsibility for their spiritual welfare. He said, I have announced to you the gospel. You have rejected the gospel. You have resisted the message of Christ. Therefore, I wash my hands of you. Your blood be on your own heads. You stand accountable before God in judgment, because you have not listened. Jesus instructed his followers to do this. Mark 6, verse 11, any place, Jesus says, that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them. In the ministry of the gospel and in the preaching of the word of God, you you sometimes get to a certain line with certain people. And if they will not listen to the word of God and they will not obey the word of God, then you have a biblical obligation to turn away from them and shake the dust off your feet and say, I am no longer responsible before God for your spiritual condition, for you will not submit to the word of God. That's a hard, hard place to come to. But it's where Jesus said we are to come to at times, and here we see Paul's example. So as a result, he left them. Verse 6 says, I'm going to go. I'll go to the Gentiles. So God then used Paul's turning away from these stubborn, stiff-necked, defiant people to bring the Word of God to those whom he had prepared and appointed to hear it. Look at verse 8. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, Do not be afraid any longer. So he left there. Verse seven tells us he went to the house of a man named Tedious Justice, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. There he set up his ministry base, so to speak. As a result of that continued ministry in the city of Corinth, the leader of the synagogue believed. God used Paul's turning away to take the gospel to others. Notice it says, when they heard, verse 8, they were believing and being baptized. See, in the New Testament, baptism is the normal and expected response of someone who has obeyed the gospel. To come to faith in Christ is to obey the gospel. It is to obey God's command to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. It then naturally and expectedly follows that that obedience to the gospel will be followed by the obedience of baptism. So we see here. So what's the principle? Principles preach to those who will listen and obey. And that goes for me, and that goes for you. Teach the word of God to those who will listen and obey. If you get to a certain point with someone, you have invested so much time of your life into them, teaching them the word of God, and they continue to turn away from the truth of the word of God. You need to With prayer and sensitivity and following Holy Spirit, come to the place where you wash your hands and you say, I'm sorry, it's time to move on to someone else. Very tough place to come to in our lives. But necessary at times. So if we are going to survive, If we're going to be a church that remains committed to biblical ministry, we must expect opposition and we must not cower before it. We must stand for truth and let the chips fall where they may. For each of us is accountable to God. Each of us as part of the church is accountable to each other. And we need to take that seriously. So spend your time teaching, discipling those who will listen and obey. And if you have to turn away from stubborn, stiff-necked, defiant people, then ask God for the gracious courage to do so. There's a second principle or discipline that we need to follow in order to persevere, and that is Rest in God's sovereign grace. Rest in God's sovereign grace. Now, you can expect that Paul was probably very weary with discouragement. We find he faced so much opposition from so many different directions that at times he was weary, at times he was ready to just go home and be with the Lord. And so it was at a time like that that the Lord came and brought great encouragement to him Verse nine, the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent. So God says, do not be afraid, which obviously we can then assume. What was Paul struggling with at that point? Fear. He was wrestling with fear, perhaps fear of man, fear of their response, fear of these Jews whom he had turned away from. Fear of the dangers that he faced on every side. But God says to him, do not be afraid any longer. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent, for I am with you. So here is the confidence of the promise of Jesus. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I am with you. I am carrying out ministry with you, through you. And no man will attack you in order to harm you. In other words, no man can overstep my boundaries. He cannot harm you unless I give him permission to harm you. What a great source of confidence. And then this amazing statement at the end of verse 10. For I have many people in this city. What does that mean? Well, it means what it says. It says what it means. It means that God, in his own sovereign pleasure, had chosen to save some in the city of Corinth. And it was through the persevering ministry of the Apostle Paul and the strengthening of God by means of His grace that the Gospel would go forth. Paul would be protected so that those whom had been appointed to eternal life would hear the Gospel and be saved. So the principle is clear. God will save those whom He has chosen to save. It is as simple as that. Our responsibility is to preach the gospel to everyone. It is God's job to save those whom he wants to save. What freedom that brings to gospel ministry. What freedom that brings to evangelism when you recognize that God's grace is not manipulated by man. God's grace is sovereign. It is a sovereign grace. And we've seen this biblical principle before. Turn back just a few chapters to chapter 13, verse 48. Again, another example where Paul turned away from the Jews because of their response, and he turned to the Gentiles, and it says in verse 48, when the Gentiles heard this, That is, that God was turning to the Gentiles with His salvation. They began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and then look at the next phrase, and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. That's what the text says. It does not say those who believed were then appointed to eternal life. It says those who had been appointed to eternal life believed. What does that mean? God acted first. That's what it means. And you better realize that if you're sitting here today and you are born again, you are a believer in Jesus Christ. You need to understand with all of your heart that you did not initiate that. You never did one thing to gain God's attention. And to gain merit from him, it was God who, in his sovereign pleasure, initiated that relationship with you. Salvation is all of God. And that's the truth that God now uses to encourage Paul in Acts 18, which I find to be quite remarkable because opponents of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God and salvation are very quick to fly up their hands and say, ah, but if you believe that God is sovereign in salvation and if you go farther than that and you actually preach it, it will hinder the work of the gospel. It will hinder evangelism because people, believers will say, well, God's the one who saves, I'm not, so I don't have to worry about it, I don't have to do anything. Wrong. Yes, God is sovereign in salvation. But sovereignty not only covers the end, but it covers the means to the end and the means to the end is our obedience to preach the gospel. So. God wasn't afraid that Paul's zeal for evangelism would be hampered if he if he knew that it was God's job to save. So he says. Don't fear. Keep preaching. Don't be silent. Why? For I have many people in this city. You know, one of the reasons why for 18 years now I have continued to preach the gospel and to proclaim the Word of God in the city of Sheboygan, it is because I believe Acts 18 10 God has many in this city. And we are preaching the gospel to them and it's God's responsibility to take it from there. So rest in God's sovereign grace. Thirdly, if we are going to persevere through various forms of opposition, we must settle down to teach the word. Settle down to teach the word. Now, this may perhaps apply more to me than it does to you, but I think there's application for every believer here. Verse 11. He settled there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. That was Paul's desire. Go to a place. He would preach the gospel. God would save. He would establish a church and he would stay there as long as he could. to disciple, to ground the people in the Word of God. He didn't just flit here and there for no apparent reason. And I think that sets forth a good pattern for us to follow. Of course, God is sovereign and He leads in His ways. But I think that there's a general principle and great benefit to settling down and teaching the word in one place for a long period of time. When I go different places and people ask me how long I've been at Emmanuel, and I say 18 years, they stop and they look at me and they say, that's a long time. We just don't hear that very often. Last I heard, the trend in the United States is less than three years. For youth pastors, less than one. Now, I don't know how accurate those are, but certainly, even if they're close, they're tragic. Pastors today that move from church to church every few years have a limited influence on the next generation. And it's true. We all know. It's true that the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence, right? But once you get over there, you find there are dandelions there too, right? So too many of us function that way. We always think that there's something better out there. We need to be faithful to God, stay where He has planted us. and serve him as long as he allows us. Paul's own faithfulness here modeled in Corinth, I believe, really strengthened his exhortation to Timothy when he said in 2 Timothy chapter 4, preach the word. Preach the word in season, out of season. When people want to hear it, when they don't want to hear it. When you're the most popular preacher in town and when you're the most hated preacher in town, just keep preaching it. So settle down to teach the Word. Get involved in the lives of some people. Teach a Sunday school class. Settle down. Lead a Bible study. Settle down. Teach the Word. Invest your life in other people. And then, fourthly, verses 12-7, trust God for your defense. Trust God for your defense. If we are going to persevere through various forms of opposition, we must learn to do that. We must learn to trust that the end lies with God, not with us. And God sometimes provides protection from unexpected sources. Here, the Apostle Paul is protected by the declaration of an unbelieving civil authority who basically says to Paul's enemies, take care of your own problems. What are you bringing this to me for? But while Gallia was pro-consul of Achaia, the Jews, with one accord, rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat. So this is after 18 months of investing his life in these people. The opposition raises to a new level and they take Paul before the civil authorities, saying this man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. Gallio immediately recognized that what Paul was preaching was not contrary to the civil law. It was contrary to the Jewish law, and that's what made the Jews so upset. When Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, if we're a matter of wrong or a vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you. If this man has truly done something illegal, I'll deal with it. Bring the charges to me. If he has broken civil law, And he needs to be judged, then we'll judge him. But if he is just upset you, then you deal with it. If there are questions about words and names in your own law, look after it yourselves. I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters. Paul wrote something very similar to this later on to the Corinthians in chapter five and verse 12 of his first letter in calling the believers to hold. Believers in the church, those who claim the name of Christ and associated with the church to a certain standard of living. He says, verse 12, what do I have to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? Well, says it's the church's job to judge the people in the church. And if the people in the church do something illegal, Contrary to civil authority, then that's when the civil authorities get involved. If one of you runs off and gets arrested for involvement in illegal drugs, don't come running to the church and expecting us to keep the civil authorities away from you. We'll be the first to dial the phone. Because you have violated God's authority. And you deserve to be arrested. You deserve to be fined. You deserve to be thrown in the clink. So understand that. God has his systems of authority. And Galileo understood this. He says to the Jews, what are you wasting my time for? Deal with him yourself. So he drove them away from the judgment seat, verse 16. So because they didn't get what they wanted with Paul, verse 17 says they took hold of Sosthenes, who apparently is the new leader of the synagogue following Galileo. Remember, 18 months have gone by. began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Galileo was not concerned about any of these things. Hmm. I guess you could call him a disconnected kind of person. But he knew his realm of authority. And it wasn't with the Jews and how they handled their people. So Paul, throughout the book of Acts, we see trusted God to be his defense. Sometimes he spoke up for himself. Sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he tried in this case, and he was silenced. But in the end, he trusted God to defend him, take care of him. What does that teach us? What does all of this teach us? Well, it teaches us that God is the confidence of those committed to biblical ministry. God is the confidence. He is who we have confidence in. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. And that's the way it is with biblical ministry. We plant, we water, God causes the growth. Neither the one who plants nor the one who waters it is anything but God who causes the growth. What does that mean? Well, it means what it says. I'm nothing and you're nothing. God is everything. And you're offended by that? Well, I'm sorry. You're nothing. I'm nothing. God is everything. Are you still offended? You're nothing. I'm nothing. God is everything. We have to understand that we are disposable. Right. I could die in a car accident on the way home from church today. God's church will continue to move forward. You are nothing. I am nothing. God is everything. It's not about the human servant. It's not about Paul. It's not about Aquila. It's not about Priscilla. It's not about Timothy. It's about the eternal God whom we are privileged to serve. It's our responsibility to remain faithful to God and to His Word by remaining faithful to the Gospel and to the whole counsel of God, and God will take care of everything else. And if that just sounds way too simple for you, I don't know what else to say. That's biblical church growth 101. And there is no one or two. That's how it works. So let's thank God that he lets us be a part of it. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you that you have not only told us the message that we are to preach, but you have given us models to follow in your word that teach us methods of biblical ministry. Father, I pray that you'll keep us sensitive to your word and to the leading of the spirit, sensitive to people's needs. Father, I pray that you'd cause us to grow. We have so many areas as a church in which we need to grow and to become conformed to the image of Christ. And Lord, we pray that you'll continue that wonderful, sanctifying work that we agree is painful at times, but will bring forth the kind of fruit that is worthy of the name of Christ. And so, Father, we commit ourselves to you, recommit ourselves to you, and pray, Lord, that you will give us empowering grace to remain faithful to you and that you will continue the mighty work that you are doing for your glory. In your name we pray. Amen.