A Word from Our Sponsor (Actually Five Words)

“And now, a word from our sponsor …”

That phrase always takes me back to safer, happier, blach-and-white days. I remember safer television programming. I remember sitting on the floor with my dad watching Gunsmoke or Wagon Train, when a strong, confident voice would chime in: “And now, a word from our sponsor …”

“Daddy, what’s a sponsor?”

“The sponsor underwrites the program we are watching.”

“Who’s Borox? Did they write this show?”

“No, the underwriter, or sponsor, pays for this show to be on TV. Because they pay for the airtime, the sponsor reserves the right to promote their products during commercial breaks.”

Well, I don’t want to try to make this introductory metaphor “walk on all fours.” I simply want to draw our attention this morning to the One Who sponsors us. He stands before God as our Advocate and refutes the accusations of our adversary. He sponsors us before Holy God. He has paid the bill so that we can enjoy “heir” time with God as our Father in Heaven. And from time to time, He reserves the right to promote Himself and the products a relationship with Him offers to anyone who will receive His sponsorship.

“And now, a word from our sponsor …”

I have come to a place where I value “a word from our sponsor.” In fact, some days I am desperate to hear from Him, to be reminded of His love and power and presence. I am so glad that out Sponsor is not only heard in Heaven before Father’s throne, but He also continues to speak on earth, He continues to promote the benefits He has made available to all who believe and receive Him.

Recently, I found a powerful instance in Scripture when our Sponsor presented just such a word. In Acts 18, I found another powerful picture from Scripture of a heroic leader gripped by real despair who found great hope from God and His Word. The apostle Paul, arguably the greatest figure in the New Testament after Jesus Christ (and perhaps John the Baptist), came to a surprising crossroads in his walk with Jesus in Acts 18. In Acts 18:9, Jesus Himself comes to Paul and speaks to him.

Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10).

We need to appreciate Paul’s condition here to get the full impact of Jesus’ word to him. Essentially, Paul is in some sort of fearful state. The literal translation of the phrase “Don’t be afraid” is “Stop fearing.” So, apparently, Paul is distressed. Why was Paul anxious?

Paul is in Corinth – a city so immoral that the people in that day had coined a term based Corinth’s reputation. To “corinthianize” meant to be sexually immoral. Paul is surrounded by immorality in Corinth. What Paul witnessed in Corinth surely informed his descriptions of perverted humanity in Romans 1:18-32.

Paul is also alone. He comes to Corinth alone having been in Athens alone as well. In Athens, Paul had continued to deliver the truth about the Truth only to be ridiculed by the intellectual elites there as a pseudo-intellectual “seed-picker,” a “hayseed,” a “hick.” The Athenians wanted their ears tickled; they did not want their loves challenged or changed. They wanted to debate truth; they did not want to answer to Truth.

Paul is probably wounded and weary. On this second missionary adventure he has been stripped, beaten with rods, and shackled in stocks Philippi (Acts 16). He has been threatened and forced to leave the company both of his comrades and of new churches started in Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:1-15). He is mocked in Athens (Acts 17:16-33). And he has just been forced to leave the synagogue in Corinth (Acts 18:6), rejected by his own people … again.

Acts 18:7-8 indicate the ministry begins to flourish at this time in Corinth. A prominent householder trusts Christ and opens his home to be the church’s meeting place. Even the leader of the Jewish synagogue and his family come to their Messiah, Lord Jesus. But Paul knows this is about the time trouble starts for him. Usually, at this point persecution mounts, something unpleasant happens to him, and he has to leave town.

Now against this backdrop, God has been caring for Paul all along. In fact, if he were paying attention, Paul could already have heard God comfort him with two remarkable realities. First, when Paul comes to this strange, immoral, pagan city alone, God has already arranged for him a place to stay with a godly couple – a Jewish man named Aquila and his noble Roman wife, Priscilla (Acts 18:1-4). Before, or perhaps just as Paul was setting out with Silas on this second missionary journey, the Emperor had expelled the Jews from Rome (AD 49). God used this to bring Aquila and Priscilla to Corinth in time to get established and be ready to receive Paul (AD 50).

So, God was saying, “Paul, I make ‘all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). In fact, Paul, I was making plans for you here in Corinth long before you turned to come to Corinth.”

Then, in Acts 18:5, Silas and Timothy finally catch up to Paul in Corinth. Their arrival surely blessed Paul, but the news they brought about the young believers and churches in Macedonia thrilled his soul. At this point in time, Paul writes his first letter to the church in Thessalonica from a heart warmed by the good report Silas and Timothy brought (you must read 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10). Once again, God was speaking to His servant.

God was saying, “Paul, I make ‘all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). In fact, Paul, I have continued to work in the lives of my people even in your absence. Not only have I gone before you where you have not yet been, Paul, but I also go behind where you have already been and see to the fulfillment of My Word in their lives.”

By this time, the fearsome foursome have brought their considerable weight to bear upon the apostle’s heart. Fatigue, frustration, failure, and fear have made it difficult for Paul to recognize God’s activity and provision. So, Jesus Himself – the same Jesus Who appeared to Paul and knocked him off his high horse into the dirt on the road to Damascus to set him on Heaven’s highway some 17 years earlier (Acts 9) – this very Lord Jesus appears to Paul again to pull him up out of the dust of despair and get him back in the saddle again.

God had demonstrated His commitment to make “all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). He had shown Paul that this work includes God working where we have not yet been to prepare the way for us. He had also proven this work includes God working where we have already been to secure the integrity of His promise in the lives of those we have left behind. Now, God declares that this work includes His presence in our present!

“Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, …”

Here are five wonderful words from our Sponsor in this text (Actually an outline of a sermon from Acts 18:1-17):

1. Stop being afraid.
2. Continue to Speak and do not be silent.
3. Trust Jesus to be present in your future, past, and present.
4. Throw off restraint in His service.
5. Find His people yet unfound (lost) in your proximity.