When Half-way Is Not Enough? Acts 18:1-11

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason -- June 17, 2007

¹Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ²There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had been expelled from Italy as a result of Claudius Caesar’s order to deport all Jews from Rome. ³Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.

⁴Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. ⁵And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent his full time preaching and testifying to the Jews, telling them, “The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus.” ⁶But when the Jews opposed him and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his robe and said, “Your blood be upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷After that he stayed with Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. ⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, and all his household believed in the Lord. Many others in Corinth also became believers and were baptized.

⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! ¹⁰For I am with you and no one will harm you because many people here in this city belong to me.” ¹¹So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God.

The devil, according to legend, once advertised his tools for sale at public auction. When the prospective buyers assembled, there was one oddly shaped tool, which was labeled “Not for sale.” Asked to explain why this was, the devil answered, “I can spare my other tools, but I cannot spare this one. It is the most useful implement that I have. It is called Discouragement, and with it I can work my way into hearts otherwise inaccessible. When I get this tool into a man’s heart, the way is open to plant anything there I may desire.”

This past week I have had the opportunity to try to help a person who is really depressed and discouraged. According to his own testimony, he had two really good days on Monday and Tuesday and then his world came crashing in on him. It’s been a really bad rest of the week for him. He was really struggling with discouragement and depression.

That is really interesting as we come to Acts 18 and Paul’s trip from Athens to Corinth. The reason for this is that we can see some of this in Paul’s experience there in Corinth.

Depression and discouragement are nothing new. They are not conditions new to society, they are not conditions new to the world and they do not affect only non-Christians.

Some of the strongest Christians, some of the most godly people in the world have gone through periods of depression and discouragement. Some of the people most used by God have suffered some of the worst periods of depression and discouragement, when they have seemed unable to continue, when it seemed that there was no joy in sight.

When we look back through the Bible, we remember for instance, Elijah. In 1 Kings we read about Elijah, the great prophet of God, during a time of depression. Earlier, Elijah had called down fire from heaven to burn up the sacrifice and the altar that he had offered to God. God sent fire, as Elijah requested, and then Elijah had all of the pagan priests killed. But that was before. In chapter 19 we read that he was so depressed, he was so discouraged, that he asked God to take his life.

Is discouragement and depression real? Of course they are.

“‘The paper guy’s here!’ Every Monday morning a cashier at Eckerd’s drugstore greets me with these words. A manager gives her a key and she fishes $3 and change from a cash drawer and pays me for copies of the Kansas City Star sold the previous week. I pick up the 10 or 12 unsold papers and throw them in my car, next to the returns from the supermarket, the donut shop and the Texaco gas station.

Quite a difference from a year ago. Then, I would announce myself in response to a judge’s perfunctory order: ‘Counsel, state your appearance.’ Instead of delivering papers from 1:30am to 6 am, I spent my nights sleeping and my days in an office, a courtroom or a library.

It all changed 12 months ago. For the second time in 6 years, I abandoned my solo law practice. I stopped returning phone calls, forgot to pay bills and ignored court dates. I began to sleep 16 hours a day. By July of last year I stopped coming into the office, leaving it to fill up with unopened mail and indignant phone messages. By August I was behind on my office rent, and by October, my landlord asked me to leave. I ate, but nothing tasted good. I slept, but woke up tired. I felt like a stranger around my wife and 2 daughters. Thoughts of suicide shadowed me, and in the midst of all this, I knew. IT had returned.

Tracy Thompson, the journalist calls IT ‘The Beast.’ To Winston Churchill, IT was his ‘Black Dog.’ To me, it is both of these; a nameless, faceless thing that infects me with a despondency so bleak I fear I will never feel joy again. IT is depression.” (Taken from a newspaper account by Michael Norlen on his battle with depression).

We also remember Jeremiah. In both the 1st & 15th chapters of Jeremiah, we read of the discouragement, the depression and the frustration of Jeremiah. He too cried out and asked how long God would forget him; how long God would forsake him. Jeremiah was discouraged.

Remember John the Baptist? When John was imprisoned, he sent messengers to Jesus and basically said, “I know you are the Lord, but, if you are the Lord why haven’t you established your kingdom and why am I in prison? I don’t understand. Why are things going the way they are? He was discouraged.

Even the Apostle Paul, one of the men accused of turning the world upside down for Christ; Paul, the man who planted churches across the Roman Empire; Paul, the man, who with divine inspiration wrote a large portion of the New Testament; even Paul, was sometimes discouraged, and depressed.

He writes to the believers in Corinth in his first letter to them in what we call chapter 2 verses 1-5:

¹Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn’t use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God’s message. ²For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. ³I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. ⁴And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. ⁵I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom.”

We tend to think of the Apostle Paul as one of those super Christians; a man who was always on top of things. But the truth was that he was human just like we are. He felt powerless, ineffectual, discouraged, depressed, and defeated. He felt whipped. But that is not how he ended his ministry there. Before Paul left Corinth, he was preaching boldly, with power, and with victory. Before he left he had led many people in the city to Christ and he had planted a church.

There are three things that I think contributed to Paul’s discouragement in the ministry.

Firstly, The Large Strain of the Work. Paul comes to the largest and most wicked city in Greece. Sitting high above the city of Corinth was the temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. In those days those that were wicked in sexual immorality were called Corinthians. There was so much work to be done and the magnitude of the work is discouraging for Paul. Of course the devil wants him to believe that the need is much greater than he can meet. Not even God is able to help Paul make a difference.

Secondly, The Little Success of the Work. Now we can say, that it is required of us to be faithful and the success is up to God and that is true. But we all like to see growth and success in the work the Lord has given us. And while Paul saw some success, he has been basically run out of every place he has been. He is misunderstood. He is mistreated time and again.

He has just been in Athens. Athens you will remember was the place where people heard him proclaiming the good news and the resurrection of Jesus as the unknown God. And they called him a babbler. They simply dismissed him and the good news he was proclaiming. They were not interested in Jesus or God being involved in their lives. Their final summation was that they would listen to him again sometime. There was no great turning to God in Jesus for salvation.

While he has seen some come to the Lord, he still sees the masses of people rejecting the truth and that is discouraging. He knows the great need people have and they are not interested.

Then finally, The Lonely Service of the Work. He has to do a lot of the work alone or with just one or two at his side. He came to this great city alone. It is one thing to go into a ministry situation with other people. It is quite another to do it by yourself.

You would think more people would get involved and more would be excited and more would re-prioritize their lives; but much of the time when you travel God’s path it is a lonely path and that can be discouraging.

But I am grateful that while the devil is active in discouraging us, God is at work to encourage us. While the devil is trying to drag us down, God is working to lift us up. While the devil aims at getting us to quit, God is working to encourage us to keep up the good fight.

In this part of our text we are given “Three Encouragements to Keep Going.”

I. The Partnership Of Friends- verses 1-5a

One of the greatest God given encouragements are friends. It is always tougher if you have to bear it alone. Remember Silas and Timothy are still in Macedonia. So God knew that Paul needed someone to help him shoulder the burdens of the work. So what does God do? God stirs up a little trouble in Rome. God puts it on the heart of the Roman Emperor Claudius to expel all Jews from Rome. Given their eviction papers, Aqulia and his wife Priscilla come to Corinth.

It seems that Aquila and Priscilla had a tent making business that they set up in Corinth. Paul just so happened to be a tentmaker and so he began to work with Aquila and Priscilla in their business. This gave him the funds for his support so that he could go into the synagogue every Sabbath and reason with the Jews and Greeks for Jesus Christ. He also had the friendship with them as he shared the good news. What a blessing Aquila and Priscilla were to Paul. They became his best and closest friends.

Then God sent Silas and Timothy from Macedonia to Corinth to reunite with Paul. So God has not only blessed Paul with two new friends but brought back to him two familiar friends. And their return must have greatly encouraged Paul for the scriptures say that Paul was pressed in his spirit to testify to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

It is a whole lot easier to stand for what is right against the pressure of opposition if there are those who will support, strengthen and stand with you. Thank God for friends who God puts in your path and in your life who will encourage you in the work of the Lord.

Praise God for the encouragement of the partnership of friends. We are all in this together.

II. The Positive Results- verses 5b-8

In 1782 Charles Simeon was appointed pastor of Trinity Church in England. But the many in the congregation did not want Simeon. They wanted Bro. Hammond to be their pastor. But the Bishop in charge insisted on Simeon as pastor of the church.

The first thing the congregation did in rebellion was to refuse Simeon to be the afternoon lecturer. They assigned the afternoon lecture to Bro. Hammond. And when Bro. Hammond left five years later, they gave it to another man for the next 7 years. Simeon tried to start a later service on Sunday evenings, but the pew holders refused to come and locked their pew doors so that no one could sit in their personal pews. So he had to set up chairs in the isles and in the corners so that those who came could sit. This went on for 12 years.

The question is what was it that kept Charles Simeon going forward in the midst of this most discouraging situation?

It was this. While many did not want him, some did. While many did not come, some did. While many were unaffected by his ministry, many were. While much was discouraging, he saw hope in the situation. Here is what he wrote:

“In this state of things I saw no remedy but faith and patience. The passage of Scripture which subdued and controlled my mind was this, ’The servant of the Lord must not strive.’ It was painful indeed to see the church, with the exception of the aisles, almost forsaken; but I thought that if God would only give a double blessing to the congregation that did attend, there would on the whole be as much good done as if the congregation were doubled and the blessing limited to only half the amount. This comforted me many, many times, when, without such a reflection, I should have sunk under my burden.”

There is always something positive that we can hold on to in any situation. As always, we have a choice to make.

We can either dwell on the negative and be discouraged or we can allow ourselves to be encouraged by the positive results. The choice is ours.

Think back over your life in the Lord: You can look and see even though many didn’t grow an inch, some have grown. Many visitors did not come back, but some did. Many lost people still remain lost, but some trusted in Jesus as their Savior. The church may remain basically the same but then again it may take off like wildfire.

Don’t look at what God has not done but dwell on all that God has done. There is always hope that the faith we have in Jesus Christ will make a difference in someone’s life. So we keep on keeping on for Jesus.

III. The Promises Of God- verses 9-11

While it is true that friends and positive results encourage us, the greatest encouragement of all is the Lord himself. The Lord speaks to Paul and tells him, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.”

God says, “Speak, and hold not thy peace.” Don’t stop, don’t quit, don’t let up, but speak.

Then there is the promise, I am with thee. Aqulia and Priscilla may not be there. Silas and Timothy may not be there. There may be no earthy presence there at all but don’t be afraid to speak up for I am with you. Here is the promise of God’s presence. Oh, what encouragement it is to have God on your side.

Another promise is made: no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, and there is divine protection. Not only will God be present but also he will be there to protect. And they certainly tried to hurt the Apostle Paul. In verses 12-17 they try to come against Paul. But it all came to nothing as the matter was dismissed.

There is a third promise here. Not just a promise of presence, and protection, but a promise of power.

God says, “for I have much people in this city.”

What did that mean? It meant simply that there were those who were lost, who under the power of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of Paul, would come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior. There were those who were to be saved by the power of God.

Friends are great encouragers and results are encouraging but when God comes to you and promises his presence, protection, and power, you have every reason to keep on going forward.

Some people were clearing off land at a church one day. The reason they were clearing off the land was to plant the trees. So they were burning some of the stumps, trees and brush. It got time to quit for the day and they began to water down the fire.

This is what they noticed:  they could put water directly on the fire and the embers but the water would not put it out; it kept on burning. There was more there to keep it burning than there was to put it out.

That is the way it is with God. And thank God for that. While there is much to discourage us and cause us to quit, there is much more to encourage us and cause us to keep going forward.

Thank God for the Partnership of Friends who stand with you. Thank God for Positive Results that give you hope. And thank God for his promises of presence, protection and power that keep us moving forward for him.

With God’s help you can climb out of the pit you are in. You like the apostle Paul can win over discouragement and depression. You just have to choose to get out of the pit. But you have to do it.

How can you climb out of the pit you are in when you are depressed and discouraged?

1. You can hang out with godly encouragers – In verse 5 we read that when Silas and Timothy arrived, He was rejuvenated and received a fresh vision and burden for the Corinthian people when he started hanging out with godly encouragers.

2. Spend Some Time Remembering
 God is with you –You are not alone.” Remember that God is with you.

Remember also that God sees things you cannot see.
“I have much people in this city.”

Remember God sees things you cannot see, and remember that God does things you cannot do.
Paul is released from court even before they can press charges against him. He is free to minister.

My friend, if you are discouraged, if you are depressed, you need to remember you are not alone. You need to remember that God sees things that you cannot see. You need to remember that God still does things you cannot do.