So we'll begin here in Acts chapter 18. I'm gonna begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse three as is my normal way of teaching. I'll bring you up to speed, what's taking place by reminding you of a few things and then we'll get into our study. So we're in Acts chapter 18. Let's begin reading at verse one. I'll read to verse three and we'll get into our study. After these things, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked. For by occupation, they were tent makers. And so as a way I normally do, in order that we might be able to better understand the passage, I'll remind you of a few things that we've already seen and then enter into our study. And we'll be going up to verse 11 today here in the Book of Acts chapter 18. Now we know that the apostle Paul, when you read your Bible, it's recorded that Paul went on three missionary journeys. And so this is what is called his second missionary journey. And so he's been ministering and he had crossed the Aegean and gone into the European continent. And so he's been ministering in that region. And he's gone to various cities and we've seen that as we've been going through our study. He's been preaching in synagogues and evangelizing. He's been in the Northern Greece area that was at one time referred to as Macedonia. He began to make his way south. He went and planted churches in Philippi and Thessalonica and a place called Berea. And there were many people who were open to the message of the gospel. But there were many who were resisting and the unbelieving Jews as we've seen have been mounting opposition against him. And Jews from Thessalonica had begun to follow Paul and they were openly opposing him and creating an uproar. When they created an uproar in Thessalonica, he went down to Berea. When they heard he was in Berea, they came and they stirred up the crowds there and it became intensely dangerous. Enough for Paul to be sent further south to the mighty city of Athens. Now as we saw last time, Athens was given over to idolatry. It was completely given over to the worship of false gods. And so he was waiting there for two of his companions, Timothy and Silas and began to be stirred as he saw that the city was given over to this idolatry. The city was blinded by the lies of the enemy. When he wrote later to the church that he's about to plant, the church here in Corinth, when he wrote later to them in 2 Corinthians chapter four verses three and four, he said this. He said, even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The God of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who's the image of God. He is saying that their minds are blinded. When you're sharing the gospel, which I would hope and pray all of us do, when you're sharing the gospel, there are times that you'll see people who are not in their head in agreement and want to receive what's being said, but there are many times that they will not want anything to do with what you're saying. Well, the Bible says that's because the gospel is veiled to those who are perishing because the God of this world, the enemy, has blinded them. And so Paul has been going to various places in ministry but some are listening and others are not. Well, he had been commissioned to preach the gospel to Jew as well as to Gentile. In Acts 26, 18, it reads that God had sent him to open their eyes to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in God. And that's what he was doing. You see, the side of such spiritual bondage is provoking Paul and he begins to evangelize. And he went to the synagogue as well as the marketplace and he began to preach and it drew the attention of the Greeks and there were certain Greek philosophers, Epicureans and Stoics who were listening to him as he was sharing and they became curious as we've seen concerning what he has proclaimed. In Acts 17, verse 20, they said, you're bringing in some strange things, some bewildering things to our ears. Therefore, we wanna know what these things mean. So they take him to a place called Mars Hill and he stands before them by pointing it out that they were on kind of like a little bit above him in seats above him, like a plateau. And he stood there, unintimidated and began to share with these intellectuals and he said to them in a very courteous way, I see that you're very religious. He's saying, you're very religious, you have these idols everywhere but your faith is not correct. You have made a mistake, the mistake of worshiping creation instead of the creator. And he points out that God doesn't dwell in temples that are made by man's hand. God cannot be fashioned by man's hands like the statues that you have created in all. God isn't limited to a location, he's created everything that exists and he's not part of creation. He's the creator, he's separated from all created things and he doesn't dwell in man-made temples. Why? Because nothing can contain God. Now creation should cause man to seek for the one who created all things but instead of being idolaters, he's saying you should seek to know the true and the living God, the one who's created all things. Now I've noticed you have an altar here as to what you call your unknown God.   Now this son, Jesus, the son of God, well, God raised him from the dead. Now when they hear of the resurrection, some are mocking. The thought of someone rising from the dead was totally absurd. Others considered what he said but few listened and responded. So as we've seen after sharing with them, Paul is departed from among them and that brings us to verse one in chapter 18. After these things, Paul departed from Athens and he went to Corinth. Now the small response of the Athenians has provoked Paul to leave the city. There's no reason for him to spend too much time there. There's so many other places to go, so many other places to preach. So he goes further south. Now we don't know how long he stayed there in Athens. It could have been a month, it could have been longer.  They were around 250 miles or so away from Athens. It took time for the message to get to them and for them to come to him and so he had opportunity to minister and to leave. And so he's gone now to the city of Corinth. It's about 40 miles south-west of Athens. It's a two-day journey. And so he's come now from Athens to Corinth. Let me share a couple of things about Corinth. The city of Corinth was a beautiful harbor city. It was extremely prosperous. They had luxury items in the marketplace, Arabian, Balsam, Egyptian papyrus, ivory from Libya, carpets from Babylon, wool from Lyconia, chickens from Chino, they had everything. All of this was sold in Corinth. And so it was very prosperous. It was a city with a lot of merchandise that was being sold and all. It was also known for what were called the Ispian games. We've never really heard of those, but they rivaled the Olympics. And so they were well known for their games that grew crowds from throughout Greece. Also it had artists who worked with stone and metal. They had orators, they had philosophers. It was a very luxurious, very rich, very intellectual city. But it was also known for sexual degradation. They had what was called the temple of Aphrodite. And there were a thousand religious prostitutes who nightly seduced the sailors as well as tourists.  It was so well known for its vice that to live like a Corinthian became a proverb.  And that's what that word meant. You're living without morals. You live in what was called at one time debauchery, licentiousness, you have no restrictions to your behavior. You're just twisted. Sexual sin was so acceptable, it became part of the culture. It became part of the fabric of the city. It was so woven into the fabric that it actually began to be one of the sins that infiltrate the church that eventually is birthed as we're gonna see the church birth, but it became besetting sin in the church there in Corinth. You see, when Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians, you have first and second Corinthians. It's interesting to note that when you begin reading the first Corinthians, you'll read the first nine verses, chapter one verses one through nine. And it's commendations. It's an introduction. He gives a blessing, Paul an apostle to the church in Corinth and Grace video and all of that. He gives this introduction.  You don't come short of any spiritual gift. So he begins an introduction there in first Corinthians and he tells them that the Lord is moving and he's aware of the fact that these are real saved people. And then in verse 10, he begins to share with them what's wrong with them. And it takes them all the way to the 16th chapter. So the first nine verses, he commends them and then the next verses up to chapter 16, he corrects them. There's a problem he's saying. You have division. There's a problem. You make comparisons between Paul and Peter and some of you say I'm of Apollo. Some say I'm of Peter. Some say I'm of Paul. Some say I'm of Christ.  You have sexual immorality. Paul had to write concerning that in first Corinthians chapter five verse one. He said, it is reported that there's sexual immorality among you and of the kind that even pagans do not tolerate, a man is sleeping with his father's wife. In chapter six verse 13 of first Corinthians, food is for the stomach, the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. Yet the body's not for immorality, but for the Lord. And the Lord is for the body. He goes on in chapter six verse 18 and he simply says, flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, the immoral man since against his own body. So he's bringing correction. The sexual sin has entered in and remained and is actually not being dealt with and that's what first Corinthians contains. And so he has to deal with the immorality and the marriage as the idolatry. He had to answer questions concerning the roles of women or the behavior at communion. He had to speak concerning spiritual gifts and the resurrection, even issues related to finances. This was a city that was so corrupt that when the church was birthed it still had a lot of sin to deal with even within the church itself. Paul's in Corinth. He's continuing his mission of evangelization and he's gonna plant another church, the Corinthian church. We've already seen him as he has planted the church in Philippi or Thessalonica as well as in Berea. But now he's planting a church in Corinth. In chapter 18, two churches are birthed that we are familiar with when we read our New Testament, the church of Corinth and the church of Ephesus. We're gonna see the birth of both of those churches. And so now it says in verse one, Paul has departed from Athens. He went to Corinth. Now in verse two, he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. And so we see an introduction to a man by the name of Aquila as well as his wife Priscilla. We'll see them again. Now he was from an area called Pontus just for a geographic location. If you knew the map of, we'll say Turkey and you went to the north, at the very north is an area called Pontus. And so he was originally from this place called Pontus in northern Turkey on the coast of the Black Sea. When we're introduced to him here it isn't known if he's already saved or if he came to faith under Paul is not stated. We do know that when you look in Acts in chapter two, verse nine, that verse points out that on Pentecost there were Jews there from Pontus and it's possible that they may have brought him to faith. Now it says that they had recently come from Italy. Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart. So the emperor had kicked out both Jew and Christian. You see, someone wrote that Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome who were continually making riots to most being moved there into by one named Crestus. The word Crestus has also been stated as Christ. So it's possible that what was taking place was the Jews and Christians were having difficulties and the Roman emperor didn't want that in Rome so he expelled them and so he left. And so it says in verse two again, Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers. And so Paul somehow comes into contact with Aquila and begins to stay with him. So Jewish boys would learn their father's trade even if they were to be rabbis. So Paul had been raised to have a trade. There's a proverb that says he who does not teach his son a trade teaches him to be a thief. And so Paul was able to work with his hands and he provided for his own needs and he did so as a tent maker. And this is something by the way that he would use to point out as an example to others when we get to chapter 20 and he's speaking to the elders of the church of Ephesus in verse 33 and 34. He says I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. So he says I have not been a burden to you but I've been a blessing to you. God has given to me a trade and he's given to me opportunity to earn my living. And so he's working his trade and he's there and he's doing his ministry. Verse four, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. So as true to form he's been going first to the Jew. He goes to the synagogue and he reasons with them. It's interesting how he first takes his message to the religious. They're religious but they're lost. Now these are people who have a biblical foundation something he could refer to. They have a fundamental worldview that he can appeal to as he's preaching. And it's his calling to preach the gospel and he did it for the Jew and he did it for the Gentile. When he's speaking to the Ephesians in his book, the book of Ephesians chapter three verse eight, he said to me who am less than the lease of all the saints this grace was given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. So he would speak to the Jew, he spoke to the Greeks, he spoke to the Godfarers and he's ministering to them. He wants them to know the Lord. Now verse five says when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. I'll spend a few moments with you looking at this. Silas and Timothy had been in Macedonia but they came back. They were caring for the new believers. They had brought good news to Paul concerning the health of the believers there. In 1 Thessalonians chapter three verse six, Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith in 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. Well, when they're arriving, Paul is constrained. He is compelled verse five by the spirit. When it speaks of this compelling, let me share a little bit about that. It literally is, it speaks of being compressed internally. There's an inner pressure that is motivating him to share. The arrival of fellow laborers has encouraged him and is motivating him. He feels compelled. Those of you who give your faith away, perhaps you'll understand this. You know, one of the ways I've been asked, how did you know he had been called to be what you are, to minister as a pastor and all of that? Well, one of the ways was a compelling that I have within me. When I was a young believer, I'm talking about 22, 23 years old, many years ago now.  But I'm studying the Bible, I'm going to Bible college and I'm learning doctrine and this person is not teaching proper doctrine. And this first time I can remember, my body actually began to shake. It began to move from within and my mom saw me shaking like that and later on said, what happened? I said, there was something inside of me wanting to correct what they were saying. I said, I just, it bothered me and so she goes, oh, is that right? And I said, yeah. Then again, shortly after that, there's a knock on the door, I was living at home at the time and I answered the door and my mom sees me as my body is beginning to move, actually physically move and my mom when I finished my mom, because I closed it, my mom says, what happened? I saw your body shaking. I said, there were Jehovah's Witnesses and they were sharing things with me that weren't true. I said, and something inside me began to move so much that my body began to shake. My mom saw it many times. My wife has too.  I've done this so many times, where people have come and spoken in and something will happen and I'll say, no, this is what the word of God says. Paul felt compelled. There was something within him. He couldn't hold back. He needed to speak and everybody, anybody who gives away their faith knows what that is. There's something inside that drives you. It burns within you and you have to, you're compelled. It's like what it says in Jeremiah 20 verse nine. I said, I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name, but his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary of holding it back. I could not. And that's true that there are times when you may sense that somebody's bringing something up and there's this internal compelling where you're saying, I need to tell him about the Lord. I gotta speak to, and people don't always like it when you do, by the way. We'll look at that in some detail in a moment. But there are times when that happens, I was on a flight, I was coming home from doing some ministry in another state and I was seated next to a woman and her husband and the woman turns to me and says, hi, you'll be my traveling companion for a little while. And I said, yeah. And she says, what do you do for a living? I'm a fisherman. What do you do for a living? And I said, oh, I'm a pastor. Oh, you are. I said, yeah. She goes, oh, I love religion. I said, I smiled at her. I said, really? She goes, yes, I do. And her husband's smiling and she's smiling. And I said, well, that's nice. And she goes, yeah. I especially love the Hindu religion. Yeah. So I said, have you ever been to India? She says, no, I haven't. But it's a beautiful country. I said, well, you know, I spent a month there. I've been to India twice and I spent a month there. I said, let me share with you a little bit about India. I said, the smell of trash that is just laying outside is overwhelming. There are lakes that are actually sewage. I said, I have been there where I have seen children begging. They will reach their hand out and their wrist has been broke. And it turns out that they had been sold by their parents into slavery. And they work for what we would call a pimp. And any money that they're able to get because of their pain that they've gone through, they turn over to their handler and they get nothing. I said, I have been in temples. I said, I've gone into the temple where there's a little guy who's outside begging for rice or anything you might give him. And you step into the temple, I told her. And there are rats that are consuming all the grain that the worshipers will leave on their altars.  I said, did you know that there is enough grain consumed by rats that could fill boxcars from Los Angeles all the way to New York? And yet, the Indian people are starving. I said to her, I said, it is lost because of its religion. And I find it odd that you would think that a religion that has destroyed so many millions of people, I find it odd that you would say, it's beautiful. And she looks at me and she doesn't want to talk anymore. I get surprised at that. But it's true. I'm not the guy who can sit there where you're telling me how beautiful you think this is but in fact, there are things you don't know about it. And so it compels you. There are times that you'll have to speak. You can't hold it back. You need to speak. It's like it says in 2 Samuel 23, verse two, the spirit of the Lord spoke through me. His word was on my tongue. You want people to be set free. That's what Christians are doing when we preach the gospel. We get people upset. You'll see this in a moment. But there's a compelling in your heart. And what happens? Do all people say, well, thank you for telling me that? No, this lady seated next to me or husband, his eyebrows went up for a minute and they look out the window for the rest of the flight. That happens all the time. All the time. Marie does it to me all the time and it gets me so tired. But what do they do? Well, it speaks concerning the fact, verse six, they opposed him and they blasphemed and he shook his garments.  I am clean from now on. I'll go to the Gentiles. So they opposed him. The word opposed, it speaks of putting themselves in a warlike order against him. They resisted him. They blasphemed. It means to revile, to speak reproachfully of. They were rejecting, they rejected the gospel. They're saying this is worthless. This is unnecessary. We don't need this. All you need to do is believe that there's a God. That's all you really need to do. Americans are very much that way. The whole generation now people don't see a need. Atheism is growing and Christianity is rejected and you know, we don't need this. We do fine on our own. Why are you pushing your religion on us? And then if you tell them the truth, if you share with them and you do so with love and with courtesy and respect, you want to just reason and share. Very often they say this is useless. This is worthless. This isn't needed. Why are you saying this to me? So what did he do while he shook his garments?  That's similar to what Jesus said in Matthew 10, 14 about shaking the dust off of your feet. It's a visible act of protest. It's a rejection and he moves on. Notice how he says in verse six, your blood be upon your own heads.  You have resisted. You've rejected the message to your own hurt. Notice he says, I am clean. That word clean. I'm innocent. I'm innocent of what is the result of your rejection of Messiah. I've done what I can, but you intentionally are rejecting him. In Luke 13, 34, Jesus said, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.  How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hand gathers their chicks under her wings and you were not willing. You don't want to hear it. It's something that you don't want to believe. You don't want to hear you. You don't receive it. You were just not willing. Paul is doing the best that he can by preaching to them the message to awaken them. So he's saying, I fulfilled my call. You're responsible for your own decision. It reminds me of Ezekiel in chapter three verses 18 and 19 and Old Testament prophet Ezekiel.     You don't have responsibility for the response. You have the responsibility to share. You share the word and leave the responsibility of the decision in the person listening. You see, Paul loved the Jewish people and it broke his heart that they were rejecting Christ. He had said to the Romans in chapter nine verses two through four, he said, I have deep sorrow unceasing anguish in my heart. I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my own flesh and blood, the people of Israel. I would give up my salvation so that they might know their savior. You see, we resist the spirit by not yielding to his conviction. He's saying, you're cutting yourself off from the possibility of salvation. There are people who hear the message of the gospel. They may hear this message. And they know within their heart, these things are true, these things make sense. And yet they say, but I've got other things to do. I remember the first time I heard the gospel, I was at a beach, I was at Newport Beach, I was 16 years old, the first time I remember. And just Jesus freak walks up to me, well, I'm laying on the towel there in Newport with a friend of mine and we're teenagers, man. And this guy walks up to me and he says, do you mind if I share with you a little bit? And I said, fine, I mean, friendly people going to the beach are friendly and all of that. I thought, what do you wanna talk about? Well, I wanna share with you about Jesus Christ. And I remember looking at him and I thought, I'm already a Christian first, I thought, because I had been raised in a particular way. But second, this is the truth. This is what I thought. I thought, I'm not gonna follow after Jesus now. Look at all these girls in bikinis.  Why would I yield up such a harvest? I got a lot, and this is a word I said, I have a lot of sinning to do. I figured that when I got older, I'd be too old to sin. Now I'll get right with God. I really did. That's how I thought at 16 up to the age of 20. And so I was not yielding to the Spirit. I wouldn't listen. I was respectful. I didn't want to argue with them. I let him say his feasts and I went, no, I'm not gonna do that. Well, he's saying here, that they're cutting themselves off from the possibility of salvation. It says in Hebrews 3, 7 and 8, the Holy Ghost says today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart. One of the things that happen as you grow older, some of you can say this, is instead of becoming tender, you become more hardened. When you're young, you might've been more open to hearing.  Well, sometimes we move on. Sometimes we have to leave people in the hands of the Lord. And that's what's taking place. Verse seven, he departed from there, entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Now, Justice is a worshipper of God. He's a Gentile and he lives next door to the synagogue. He had just said he'd no longer concentrate on the Corinthian Jews, but instead of preaching in the synagogue, he's just moving his ministry next door to it. In verse eight says, Christmas, the ruler of the synagogue. You all know Christmas, by the way. He's the one who invented Rice Krispies. But anyway, Christmas, I'm sorry. Christmas, the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians' hearing believed and were baptized. Now, Christmas is like the Bereans. He was what you would call noble minded. He listened, and as he listened, the Spirit of God convicted him, and he believed, and like Cornelius, we had seen earlier, he brought his family and household to faith in Jesus Christ. It says in verse eight, many of the Corinthians' hearing believed and were baptized. So in the midst of the corruption and perversity, God is raising up a believing community, and we're seeing the birth of the church of Corinth. Now, as this takes place, verse nine, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision. Do not be afraid, but speak. Do not keep silent, for I am with you.  I wanna look at that for a moment. Do not be afraid, speak. Do not keep silent. Paul is seeing many people come to faith in Christ, but the opposition is growing. People are doing whatever is necessary to silence him. And even the great apostle became afraid, feeling failure, constant pressure. Corinthians had been won to Christ, but not without cost to Paul. The burden and the pressure he felt could lead to a sense of fatigue and even fear. There's a constant pressure. The resistance is continuous. The intellectual elites are rejecting Jesus, and the Jews are antagonistic. The constant anger, the constant hostility could begin to cause him to wonder if they're gonna kill him. And under such constant pressure, the Lord needs to comfort him. He said in 2 Corinthians chapter seven, verse five, indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest. We were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside. Were fears. Hebrews 13, five and six, keep your lives free from the love of money. Be content with what you have because God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Paul needed the strength, and he needed the comfort of the Lord. And the same strength and the same comfort is available to us. Psalm 61, two says, from the ends of the earth I call you. I call as my heart grows faint, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Do not be afraid, the Lord says. Speak, don't keep silent. I am with you. Reminds me of what God said to the prophet Jeremiah in chapter one of Jeremiah, verses six through eight. I said, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak. I'm a youth, but the Lord said to me, do not say I'm a youth, for you shall go to all to whom I send you.  Do not be afraid of their faces. I am with you to deliver you. Paul could preach with conviction. God was there protecting him. Even though he experienced fear, God had given him confidence. When you preach the word, there will be those who not only reject you, but there will be those who, they're really rejecting the Lord, but they're gonna reject, but they'll be there. There will be those who intimidate and can cause you to take a step back. I gave a study. I was sharing concerning husband's role in marriage many years ago now. And I went outside and I sat down. It's when we were at Ontario Christian at the elementary school. We used to rent the little chapel they have there. And I went outside and I sat down and this guy, who was a lot bigger than me, came and stood with his hands kinda on his hips and leaned over. I was by myself sitting down on a bench and he says, I just wanna ask you a question and it's really threatening. And I said, really? And what is that? Why do you always talk down to us, man? I said, talk down to you, man. When did I talk down to you? And he's like, you know, towering over me. He goes, because you say things to us and you're calling us failures. I said, what do you mean? He goes, like today, the message you spoke today. And he's very angry at me and I'm thinking he's gonna do something. I said, oh Lord, where's Raul Reese when you need him? He was mad and I remember looking up at him and I said, let me ask you a question. Are you doing the things that I taught today in the word? And he goes, yes, I am. I said, so it doesn't, it's not for yourself that you're upset. No, I'm upset for the other guys who don't. And I smiled at him. I said, well, seeing that you're doing all that I was teaching today and seeing that you're so sensitive to the guys who are getting hurt by my words, did you ever think you might wanna pray for those people that you're so concerned for? And he goes, yeah, I should. And I go, thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus. It calmed him down. I had another guy in my office and he was mad at me because he had been living with his girlfriend and I had told him and her, this is not right. You need to deal with it in the right way. And she got mad at him because they were shacking up and I said, no, I won't marry you. You need to get your lives in order because you're in sin. I quoted scripture, showed him where. He came in later on by himself. He's a karate guy. He's sitting about three feet from me with chair, my chair is here, his chair is there. We're looking at it. And he starts doing what he called his kata and he's doing stretching and he's moving his arms, doing these things that I'm looking at him. I'm thinking, oh boy.  He says, when I'm in doing my karate and I'm doing my kata and this and that and he's throwing, he's throwing, it's just kind of weird.  And I'm gonna see Jesus. So I said, Jesus, will you let him knock me out on the first punch? I just don't feel like getting hit that much. There have been, there's been more than more. So many. I finished a Bible study. A guy approaches me. He says, my name is Jeremiah. I'm all the Jays in the Bible and God has said to me that you must receive my words for if you do not. And he pulls his hand back like that. He says, I am commanded by God to smite you. And I didn't feel like getting smitten that day. But those things are things that happen that people don't know. That the church comes and church leaves. But the letters come and the threats come and the anger comes. And you can get to the point where you say, Lord, how often? How many times?    What's being said? How many times? And the Lord says, you know what? Some of you kind of know what I'm saying. Maybe you know what I'm saying. He says, I've got much work to do. That's what he's saying to Paul. Don't be afraid because not everybody wants to hear. A lot of people get angry. A lot of people get mad.  Police officer told me here in Chino, he said, we've been assigned to have a, anytime we see your car, we have been assigned to follow you because you are a hate speaker in Chino and you have death threats. And I already knew that because one day I shared and I said, there's somebody called the church and said, he better watch his back. I'm gonna get him. You get death threats. It's not what it appears to be sometimes. And you can get tired. You can get tired. And you can say, Lord, what am I to do?  Speak up. I have many people here. And that's what Paul is being told. He's gone through so much. Your heart goes out to this man. He's been stoned to the point of death. They thought he died. He's been savagely beaten with rods. His poor broken body. He travels with such intensity. He goes so many places only to be confronted by the hate and the anger where people are following him wherever he goes, hounding him, causing problems. And he says, Father, I'm sure in his prayer life he's saying, Lord, what do you have for me to do? And the Lord speaks, do not be afraid. Speak, do not keep silent. I'm with you.  He's been hurt. Sometimes we look at him and we think, what a superstar. And indeed, he was amazing. They'll never be another like him. But he was a man. And there were times when he was just tired. And God said, I'm giving you relief. You've been traveling and traveling and traveling. And you can't even rest. You're in Athens. You see an entire city given over to idolatry. You can't even rest. You have to stand up. There's a burning within your heart. You have to speak. You've paid a price, but no one's gonna harm you, Paul. I'm gonna give you some rest here. You see the savagery, the threatenings, the hatred was weighing on him. Corinth was an immoral cesspool. He could cause him to shrink back. Because of this, God gives him relief. He gives him a promise of comfort. I have many people in this city. And so what does he do? Verse 11, he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. In the midst of this evil, there are people who want, they're aware of their need. They're open to hear how they can be saved. John mentioned that in the invitation yesterday, two rival gangsters who actually were after each other, two rival gangsters came up and gave their heart to Christ. And that problem is dealt with in the power of the Holy Spirit and the love of God. That's what the gospel does. That's why we preach the gospel. Because it's the power of God that changes lives. It's the Holy Spirit empowering you to be an entirely different person. From a person who goes out to kill, you're now a person who goes out to save. And he says, I have many people here. There are many people who want to hear the gospel. Listen, we see the news and we see so much negative, but don't forget that those people that are being called hopeless are the ones we've been sent to reach. Because once you were called hopeless, you were looked at as being beyond care or beyond help and look what God has done in you. And that's the gospel. Never get tired of preaching this message. It's the one message that transforms human beings from filled with hate to filled with love and filled with fear to have a confidence to preach a message that changes. And the field was white for harvest. God intends to save many and he stayed there and he taught and he discipled and many came to faith in Christ because nothing can overcome the power of God and the message of transformation that he's entrusted to us. So don't be afraid to speak it. It sets people free. It's the only message that does. It's the only message that does.