Acts 18:1-22 (Week 31 - Life in the Spirit)

So today, as we walk through this passage, what we are going to see, I'm just going to tell you up front, what we're going to see is how life in the spirit, life depending upon the Holy Spirit, helps us in our times of fear, when we're scared, when we're anxious, when we're worried, and we all have them. I mean, we all have times where we're living in fear, where we're scared, we don't really know what's coming our way, or maybe it's because of something we're in the middle of in that moment, but many of us get fearful of being alone. We're scared that we're never really going to find the right person to be with, or that the relationships that we're in are going to falter, that they're going to fail at some point, and we are going to be alone. For many of us, it terrifies us. Maybe you're feeling alone this morning, and that you continue to live in that fear of always being alone. Sometimes we, we live in fear, and we're scared of, of not being able to succeed. We look at our lives, and we think, I don't really have what it takes. I see other people, and they seem to have what it takes, but not me. I don't seem to have what it takes to succeed, and so that keeps us from either entering into that thing and trying it in the first place, or as we do, we're not very confident and don't really dive into it, because we know we're just going to fail, because we're not like other people. For some of us, we're fearful of not having enough money for our family, or maybe we're retired and we think that we're, it's just going to run out. Maybe we're fearful of getting older, maybe we're fearful of not being as attractive as we once were, being able to do the things that we once could use to do. Maybe we're scared of getting cancer, or now that we have cancer, we're scared of dying from the cancer that we're living with in this moment, some of us are scared of the violence that we see, the wars that are being fought, the culture that's around us, the lack of morality that we see, how other people are living their lives, the choices that they're making that could affect the very freedoms that we have, and we're just scared of whatever the future holds. For some of us, it's we get scared of sharing our faith. We want to share our faith. We want to tell other people the good news about Jesus, but it scares us to death. And so we just don't do it, because we're afraid. Sometimes we're living in fear that you know what I'd know, that I prayed to put my faith and trust in Jesus. I walked down an aisle at some point, I got baptized, but I'm scared that I'm not really saved. I'm scared that when I die, I may not go to heaven, because I just don't know, and maybe that's because of some choices that we've made in the past, or maybe that's because of something we're still continuing to do in the present, and we just don't know, and so we live in this fear. Are we really going to make it? Am I going to be in heaven one day, or not? For each one of us, it can be very different, but we all have times in our lives where we just get scared, we live in fear, we're afraid of what we're dealing with, or whatever it is that might come. This was even true of the Apostle Paul, the great Apostle Paul. I don't know if you're like me, but when I think of Paul, I think of like he's the super apostle, right? I mean, Paul doesn't get scared of anything, and that is not what we are going to see today. That's good news for a lot of us, because when we see someone who we think is always able to handle everything that comes their way, and they actually have times where they're scared and they're afraid, then we see their humanity, and we go, oh, they experience fear in the same way that I experience fear, and that brings us some comfort to know those things. But above and beyond that, we're going to see the Lord meet Paul right where he is at in his fear and provide for everything that he needs throughout this journey that he is on. Let's just dive right in and see what Luke tells us in the opening verse of chapter 18. He says after this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. The question, of course, is when we start off like this and we say after this, we got to ask the question after what I mean. We're starting a brand new chapter, and if you were here last week and you were paying attention as we walked through Acts chapter 17, and you know what he's referring to, and if you weren't here, you've never read it, then maybe you don't, but in general, Paul is on his second missionary journey, he got sent out from a church in Antioch, and he's been traveling around telling people about the good news he had been. In Athens, he was sharing the gospel with intellectuals and philosophers on the on Mars Hill before the Areopagus, a famous council and a famous place there, and and we're told that a couple of them put their faith and trust in Jesus, they experienced complete forgiveness in him, became new creations in Christ, their lives were changed forever, but most people didn't. We're told that Paul left there, and he came to Corinth, this area called Corinth. We know a lot about Corinth, but here's the thing that I want you to know that we don't see in the text about this time period when it says that Luke left Athens and came to Corinth. See, there's a church that's going to get established here through what we see today. There are going to be people who put their faith and trust in Jesus, they get adopted into, born into God's family, they become part of the church, and now there's going to be a church that gets established at Corinth, and then Paul's going to leave, but after he leaves, he's going to be inspired by the Holy Spirit to write a letter to this church at Corinth. We have two of them, it's called First Corinthians and Second Corinthians in our Bible, and when we see Paul writing to them to address some situations and circumstances that they were facing in those moments, he also gives us some insight based on the things that he says as to what was going on at this point in time before the church was ever established, when he left Athens, and he was going into the city of Corinth. Let me show you what I mean. When we look at Paul's letter, let's first look at this map, this map that shows the second missionary journey that Paul was on, and again you can see over here that he was at Antioch and traveled all the way through here based on the Holy Spirit, ended up in Macedonia and in Thessalonica and Berea, where he left Silas and Timothy, and then all the way down here into Athens, and now over into Corinth, and as he made his way into Corinth. Here's what we're told in First Corinthians, chapter two, verse three. I, Paul's writing this, remember, and he says, I came to you within weakness, with great fear and trembling. And so Paul says, when I came to Corinth, when Luke says that he left Athens and came to Corinth, I, Paul, saying I was coming in weakness, in not just a little bit of fear, but great fear, in so much fear that I was trembling in those moments when I arrived where it is that you live. Unpacking the Greek words that are here helps us see even a little bit more of what it is that Paul is saying when he writes this sentence, that he came to them in weakness him with great fear and trembling. The word translated fear here is Phobos, and it means a state of severe distress. Paul's saying, I came to you in a state of severe, not mine, or severe distressed. It's distress aroused by an intense concern for impending pain, danger, evil, and any number of things. The Greek word is translated 'trembling' here is tromos, and it means to shake or tremble, often with the implication of fear and or consternation. This feeling of of dread, this feeling of dismay, and so, so you get an idea that whatever it is that Paul is facing, I mean, it's a great fear, so much so that he's trembling, and we don't know exactly what it was, he doesn't tell us here, it could be that all the persecution that he's faced over and over again is caught up to him, and he's worried about more that could be coming. It could be that he was alone. If you remember back in Acts chapter 17 and beyond, when they went to Athens, I mean to Berea, Paul left after being persecuted, but he left Silas and Timothy there, and so his good friends, his ministry partners, they were in this together, and now these are long journeys that you go on, and you feel like you're all by yourself, and you're suffering at times, and, and I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I know that when I feel alone, this is the way I can sometimes describe what it is that I'm feeling, it's not just kind of like, oh, I'm feeling a little bit lonely. I mean, there are times when we're alone that we would go, I am in weakness, and so alone that I am in great fear, and I'm trembling in these moments. It could be that that's what Paul was facing as well. It could be the culture Corinth was a vial in a wicked place. I mean, we don't have time to go into it today, but I mean, think Las Vegas times, you know, maybe 10, I mean, it was vile and in wicked, the immorality was so great there that Corinth became like a derogatory term to describe people who were just shamelessly immoral, I mean, you're such. A Corinthian meant that you were vile, you were wicked, you were completely such an immoral person, and so maybe he's scared of all the things that are going on around him, maybe it's.. it's all the things I don't know, but I know that there have been times in my life as a father when I felt like I've made the wrong decisions around my kids, whenever I feel like there's any number of decisions that I make around the church, and that that could affect you or the direction that we're going. There are times in my life whenever I felt like, you know, we're not gonna have enough finances to do this or that, and in each one of these moments, I mean, I'm talking, it is great fear sometimes, and trembling to the point that that I can feel paralyzed in those moments, and maybe it's just me, and the Lord had me preaching this today, and we're in it because He just had something to say to me about those moments of fear, and whenever I get scared, and whenever I'm in those moments, and I don't know what I'm doing, and I'm worried, and how it's going to turn out, and I can think of all the worst case scenarios, and I'm convinced that all those worst case scenarios are what's actually going to come true, and I feel it where I'm starting to shake, but maybe not, maybe you've been there too, maybe you're experiencing those moments even right now, but this is where Paul was in, and so when Luke says that Paul left Athens and came to Corinth. We go, oh no, he didn't just leave Athens and come to Corinth. Paul was in great distress, trembling and in fear. We don't know exactly what it was causing him a lot, but here's what we see: the Lord provides, he meets for him right in those moments, even almost right off the bat, we see from what Luke tells us next, verse two. There, where's there Corinth? After arriving, he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. So Paul went to see them, and because he was a tent maker, as they were, he stayed with them and worked with them. We mentioned just a second ago, how when we get to be alone, and there can be such, such great feelings of aloneness, in that we're depressed in those moments, and that we're always going to be alone, and the way that that can can feel, and we see that the Lord provided Paul with the blessing of new Christian friends. He was left, Silas and Timothy were gone, he was all by himself. And Paul blesses, I mean, the Lord blesses Paul with new Christian friends, and these become great friends of his. We don't know if they were Christians before or if Paul shared the gospel with him, and they came to know Jesus, but they're in Christ, and they're such good friends that they become ministry partners, like they're in it. We're going to see them go with Paul in a little while and continue on his missionary journey with him. He even writes and mentions their name in other letters whenever he leaves them in places to teach people and disciple people, and they even lead a house church that we're told in some of these letters, but these were great friends of his, so much so that we see in Romans chapter 16 that he says this when closing out the letter to the church at Rome. Hey, greet Prissa, this was another way that she would write her name every now and then, so Greek Prissa and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. Listen to this. Who, for my life, risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. And so listen, if you have people in your life who are willing to risk their very life for yours, you're probably pretty close. Not just any so-called friend would risk their lives for you, but good close friends. And so this we see just in this statement the depth of friendship, the things that God did for him through this relationship was no small thing. Paul is facing weakness, great fear, and trembling. And how does the Lord provide for him through community, through friendships, through other brothers and sisters in Christ. When we see this is how the Lord provides for him and meets him in his time of fear, it says something to us even today, guys, when we're walking through those times of fear and in worried and we're in weakness and trembling, look for the Lord to provide encouragement and support for you in those moments through other brothers and sisters in Christ, through friends, through Christian friends. That's why it's so important for us to be plugged into biblical community, to not just come on Sundays and come to worship, that's important, but to dive into the way that we see. Life in the spirit, and we talked about so much in Acts chapter two. After 3000 people became part of the early church, and we see them in community worshiping together, praying together, serving together, eating together, doing life together. Jesus provides and meets many of our needs through other people. It's hard to do that if you don't have a Priscilla and Aquila in your life, and you will not have a Priscilla and Aquila in your life if you just come to worship. If you're not involved in biblical community and putting yourself in there, where the Lord can grow you in those kind of relationships, you will not see Him provide for you the way that He's providing for Paul here, because you haven't stepped out. Notice again when we come back to hear what it says after he met them at the very end. It says that, and because he was a tent, where does it go? Paul, watch this. Paul went to see them. I've heard a lot of people listen. I highlight that because I've heard a lot of people who have been in a lot of different churches, including ours, who have made comments like, well, nobody ever reached out to me, we just never could really find great friendships at that church, and so we had to leave, and most of the time, what people mean when they say that if you dig into details with what they're saying is, is that that those people never reached out to me about that, but you'd also find that there was nothing on their side to step in and put themselves in that kind of community for the Holy Spirit to foster those kinds of relationships as well, and so certainly there's things that when people make comments like that, that we want to look at and not neglect the Holy Spirit leading us to notice people in need, but there's another side of that, which is our responsibility to put ourselves in environment that we know the Holy Spirit will naturally lead us into as part of being brothers and sisters in Christ, so that we have those, so that we can go to them and tell them that we're in time of need and we're experiencing fear and trembling and working through these kinds of things as well, and so again we see that the Lord's providing for him in those ways, but it takes us, even today, in the way this applies to us, to put ourselves in those relationships, so that he can use those people and provide for us as well. He goes on after meeting those people. Luke tells us that every Sabbath, he, Paul, reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and the Greeks. This, of course, is his custom. We've seen this on and on. It was natural for him to go to the Jews first and to reason with them and improve and explain the old testament scriptures and how Jesus is the fulfillment of those passages of the most the Messiah, all those things, and he tells us here that he was doing that every Sabbath, why just every Sabbath, because he was working in between the sabbaths, right, he was a tent maker and he was trying to to earn money so that he could live there and share the gospel, but all that's about to change as we get into verse five. He says, when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. So, the first thing is, now Silas and Timothy were his friends, they were his ministry partners, and so we see the Lord provided new friends in the meantime, but don't you know how encouraged Paul probably was when he's experiencing great fear and and trembling and and weakness to have his good friends and ministry partners show back up and be by his side. I mean, you know what it feels like when you've been apart from somebody that you love and that you really care about, and all of a sudden they're back, and there's just this feeling of joy, and you're hugging, and your voice gets louder, and you're just so excited to be with them, and everything just kind of feel better now. I feel so much different now that you're here, and you got to know that Paul felt that, and this is just another way the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, was was providing for him in his moment of of weakness, but we're also told that when he came, it freed him up now to exclusively preach. He didn't have to do tent making anymore. Now, why we don't see any details here. What is it about Silas and Timothy that freed them up to be able to do it all the time? Well, once again, you go to other biblical texts, the letter that Paul wrote on the other side, and sometimes he gives us details again as to what is going on in these moments here, and we see that in First Corinthians again. So now we go back there to the letter that Paul wrote later on in chapter 11 and verse nine, and we read this. Paul says, "And when I was with you, when was I with you the first time that I came? That Luke is describing right now, and needed something. He says, "I was not a burden to anyone for the brothers who came from Macedonia. Who's that, Silas? And Timothy, right, they were the brothers that came from Macedonia, that's what Luke just told us, they supplied what I needed, and so there was a collection of financial collection, and the resources that the church, the Holy Spirit, through the church, provided, sent with Silas and Timothy, and now we're seeing this is what freed him up there, and so once again, as we see Luke telling us about certain events, and we see these letters that Paul writes on the other side, we get to go back and forth between them and kind of fill in the gaps of what was going on and what the Lord was doing even more during those times. Verse six says, but when they opposed Paul, so he's in the synagogue, he's sharing the gospel exclusively with that with them, but when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, 'Your blood be on your own heads. I am innocent of it. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles again. Think about this, what Luke is saying. I mean, we know we know that Paul's encountered persecution before, we've read about it a number of times, but now we've got this insight through what he wrote in First Corinthians on how he came to them in weakness and in fear and trembling. These are the things that he's been experiencing, and now he's sharing the gospel, telling other people the good news about Jesus. Why? For their benefit, not just to go, I've got to be right. I just want to be proven that I'm right and you're wrong. He's going, this is for you, so that you can have your sins forgiven, so that you can have eternal life, so that you can know that the Messiah that you've been reading about in the Old Testament has come. Now I'm sharing all of this for you and for your benefit. And not only do they oppose him, but they get abusive. I mean, how would you feel in general if that's happening when you're trying to help someone and now they're abusing you while you're just trying to share good news with them, much less when you're feeling weakness, great fear, and trembling, and now you're being opposed and abused. Probably just contributed to it even more. The amazing thing is, we've seen each one of these times almost immediately, Lord has provided for Paul in some way, and he keeps showing up and doing it over and over again. Look in the very next verse, verse seven. Then, so after the opposition, after the abuse, Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Tydeus Justus, a worshiper of God. So he's got a place, he's got somebody who's providing for him. But look now, Crispus verse eight, the synagogue leader and his entire household believed in the Lord, and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. Isn't that amazing? I mean, think about that. You're sharing the gospel, you're already weak, you're already living in fear, you're afraid of all these things, they're opposing you, they're being abusive, and you're going, "Jesus, I'm just doing what you told me to do, and they're not responding, "You're not doing anything here. Ever been there and said that in times like Paul was facing? I mean, I'm surely not the only one, right, but what we see here is that he was working just because there was opposition. Just because he was being abused doesn't mean that God was not at work, because we see it right there, even in the middle of them responding that way. He was at work in ways we couldn't see in Crispus, the guy who was the leader of the very synagogue that he was being opposed and abused in the spirit, speaking to his heart so much that he responds in faith. And now he and his whole household believed and were baptized, showing that all of their sins had been washed away. The old them was dead, buried, and gone, and their new creations in Christ, and their life has been transformed and changed forever. I mean, isn't that kind of god to go even through the opposition, even when there's fear of the way that people are treating you, and your mind tends to go, God's not doing anything in this moment. We're reminded that he's always at work in some way for our good in His glory, and it leads us to trust Him, even in those moments too. As we go on, we see perhaps the greatest way that the spirit that the Lord provides for Paul in his weakness and his fear and his trembling. One night we're told the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision. Do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city. So Paul stayed in Corinth. Correct for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. I mean, what do you think that that did to Paul's soul? I mean, fear, great fear, trembling weakness to get a personal appearance face to face with the Lord Jesus Christ, who speaks to him and says, "Do not be afraid. Why? For I am with you. Could there be any more comforting words when we are afraid than that? Oh my gosh, to know it, but then to hear the words from Jesus as a reminder, you are not alone. Do not be afraid. I have got this. As a matter of fact, there are so many more people in this city, Paul, that I am going to reach through you and bring into the church and the family. So stay in it, trust me with it. You're not alone. I am at work, and when we think about the situations that cause us fear and anxiety, and are convinced that the worst thing is ever going to happen, based on whatever it is that we're facing, or could be coming, we're reminded that Jesus will meet us face to face. It may not be in a vision, it may be a small quiet whisper in your heart, but he will say the same thing. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. He says it to you this morning. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I'm in it, even when you don't see it. And I've got this verse 12 says, while Galileo was the pro council, who was the pro council of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. This man, they charged, is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law, it just never stops. I mean, Lord provides, but then it just keeps coming all the time. When we see the word law here, he's referring to Roman law, so there's this opposition, this, this word, we don't like the gospel, the truth, the thing that you're trying to share about, and so we're going to try to convict you of a crime. What's his crime? Propagating a new religion. There are certain religions that were legitimized in the Roman law, and as long as they were there and they were aware of them, then you could participate in those religions, but you couldn't start a new one. You couldn't propagate some new religion in this way. And so these Jews are going to the Roman officials who are in charge. He's breaking the law. This is a whole new religion. He can't be doing that. In other words, arrest him, do something about it. But watch once again every time we've seen the opposition in the things and the things that Paul's facing, we've seen the Holy Spirit providing all throughout the entire passage, and this is no different. Verse 14, just as Paul was about to speak, Galileo said to them, "If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you, but since it involves questions about words and names in your own law, settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things. And so he drove them off. They're thinking they're going to get Paul arrested, and we see here that the Lord provides for Paul in this situation during this time of great fear and great trembling, when, when even something else could happen, but they're upset and they got to blame somebody, and so they take it out on somebody. Verse 17. Then the crowd turned on Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the proconsul, and Gallio showed, excuse me, no concern whatsoever. Now we don't know why they held him responsible, but for some reason they hold Sosthenes responsible for Galileo's decision not to convict Paul, and what we see, though, here when we go one more time to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, after the fact, we maybe get a few more details, just like we've learned, and I think this is super interesting, and so when you flip over to First Corinthians, chapter one, verse one. Right off the bat, look at what we're told. Paul, he's introducing himself as the one who writes it, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother, watch this, Sosthenes to the church of God. God in Corinth. Now I will tell you right up front that that we do not know with 100% certainty that this Sosthenes that is written, that Paul addresses here, is 100% for sure the same Sosthenes that was the synagogue leader that we're reading about in Acts chapter 18 right now, but listen, same name Paul's writing to the church of the same area that the guy was from in the synagogue leader that was there, and so I can't stand up here and say with 100% conviction that this is the same guy, but there is a pretty good chance that this is the same guy, and think about what that means. I mean, this is the guy that was the leader of the synagogue that was opposing Paul. They were trying to get Paul arrested in this moment. It didn't happen. They hold him responsible, and they beat him. And if this is the same guy, then Paul and them must have stuck around and served him and cared for his needs after he was beaten and it was taken out on him and said we forgive you and here's the good news of Jesus and you can receive forgiveness and salvation and the guy responds to it and then we see someone we see someone who was an enemy of Paul's be converted into a brother in Christ and become his friend and potentially someone who's on his ministry team. Now, again, we don't know if this is all 100% true. We're drawing some speculation here, but it just shows me, and it says something to us if this is the same guy that says one more way to us, that when we're walking in times of fear and with trembling and all the things, and many of that comes from our enemies, sometimes the people who just seem always out to get us, and then we're potentially given this story about how he turned even their enemy into a friend, a brother in Christ, and someone that's now on their team, and don't count God out on how He can do the same thing in our lives today. Luke goes on and says Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time, year and a half, and then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by, see, I told you this would happen, Priscilla and Aquila, right? He meets them, and they develop such a great friendship and become part of things that now he's part of their missionary team on this journey with him. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Centura because of a vow he had taken. Now, there's a lot of discussion, a lot of things written about this vow. What is this vow? What does this mean, and all of those kinds of things, and to be again 100% honest, no one knows exactly what the vow is. We can't go to Corinthians the same way we have been, and he writes more details and tell us what it in that, and there's a lot of speculation. Some people say this vow is like a Nazarite vow that you read about in the Old Covenant and the Old Testament of our Bibles, and maybe it is. Other people talk about it just as it's a personal vow that maybe Paul made of thanksgiving. I mean, he had just been honest about them the way he had written back, where he was in weakness and, and with great fear and trembling, and I mean all the anxiety, all the worry, and all of that. And God met him in all these ways we've highlighted today, and there's this vow of thanksgiving, we don't really know what it is, but obviously the Lord has met him and provided for him, and this was something that he felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to do in this moment, to glorify and honor him, to thank him. Verse 18, I mean, excuse me, verse 19, they arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila, and so again we see them teaching and discipling, and we see them as house church leaders. He left them there. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews, and when they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. And again, we don't really know exactly why Paul was trying to get back, finish this journey. Most likely the easiest explanation is just whether there was a traveling time and a sailing time, and it was getting close, and if he didn't leave soon, he would make it all the way back across there. And so, most likely, that's what happened, and why he left. Verse 21 But as he left, he promised I will come back if it is God's will. And then he set sail from Ephesus, and when he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. And then finally, I mean, you just, you just think about that. Even this was the church that sent Paul out, his home church. You've been gone for a long time, you've walked through fear, trembling, you've been through a number of difficult situations and circumstances, and you walk back home and through the front door, and when you walk in, what's the first thing that you say? Man, it's. Good to be home. There's something about letting your guard down. You feel safe. You begin to get rest. You begin to get encouraged again. And so we see again great fear, trembling, weakness, and God provides a way for him to come back home in a church family to be a part of who launched him out on mission, praying for him, providing for him the whole way. You gotta know he was so encouraged when he walked back in and just went, "Oh, it's so good to be home, and that's what we see. And then he traveled all the way over here, and look how far of a journey it was, and that Paul had went on, and so don't you know that the Lord was just providing one more way for him as he was facing this great fear, whatever it was that was causing this trembling in his life, because all through the passage, I mean, how many times did we see something that was written and then God showing up and meeting that need over and over again, as we read through this today, Jesus met Paul in his time of weakness, fear, and trembling, and it says the same to us. He will meet us in our times of weakness and fear and trembling. He met personally two two with Paul in a vision and spoke to him, "Do not be afraid, personally. Don't be afraid, I'm with you. He encouraged him by providing new friends, Priscilla and Aquila. He brought old friends back into his life. He met his financial needs. He provided for him when he was accused of criminal activity and escaped those kind of things over and over again. Jesus met Paul in his weakness, fear, and trembling, provided for everything that he needed, and he will do the same thing for you and for me today. Whatever it is that is causing you fear, whatever you're scared of, whatever it is that keeps you up at night, leaving you feeling depressed, anxious, tensed. paralyzed, even look for Jesus to meet your need through the community that He provides for you, brothers and sisters in Christ. Look for Him to meet your needs financially, provide the resources you need, look for Him to meet you face to face, just like he met Paul, and say to you, do not be afraid, for I am with you. And if you're here today, and you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus, that doesn't apply to you. He loves you, but he is not with you. He says to Paul, 'Don't be afraid, for I'm with you, because Paul had put his faith and trust and received Christ for salvation. So the Holy Spirit had come to dwell in his life. He was completely forgiven. He was in a spiritual union with him, so he was always with him. And the same is true for anyone who's put their faith and trust in Christ, and if you're here today, and you've never received His free gift of salvation, He offers you complete forgiveness, eternal and abundant life, and a spiritual union where you can draw upon Him. You don't ever have to be afraid, and you can know that He will be with you now and forevermore. And I want to give you the chance to receive it now in this moment. Before we close today, let's pray together.