Down, but Not Out

Everyone experiences moments when they feel “down, discouraged, misunderstood, helpless, or hopeless”. These feelings can lead people to want to quit, walk away, blame others, or even blame God. That “down feeling” can be particularly bad, often manifesting as a sense of helplessness or hopelessness.

Dr. Charles Stanley uses the life of the Apostle Paul to demonstrate that even when facing utter devastation, believers have the spiritual resources to “get up and keep going”. His message, titled “Down but Not Out,” explores the characteristics that enabled Paul to rebound from a life-threatening stoning and how those characteristics apply directly to every Christian today.

The Biblical Blueprint: Paul’s Impossible Comeback in Acts 14 (H2)

The biblical example that illustrates the power of spiritual resilience is found in the 14th chapter of Acts. Paul and Barnabas were in Lystra, preaching the gospel, when Paul commanded a man who was lame to “Stand upright on your feet”. The man immediately “leaped up and began to walk,” causing the crowds to become excited, mistakenly believing that Paul and Barnabas were gods who had come down to them.

The crowds called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes” (because he was the chief speaker) and attempted to offer sacrifices to them. Paul and Barnabas had great difficulty restraining the crowds.

However, the situation quickly reversed. Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, won over the crowds, and subsequently stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, and supposed him to be dead. Paul had become “really down”. Think about the severity of this: to be stoned to death means rocks were thrown at him until the attackers believed he was dead. Yet, the story doesn’t end there: “While the disciples stood around him, he got up, entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe”.

Paul and Barnabas continued their mission, preaching the gospel, making disciples, and strengthening the souls of believers, encouraging them to continue in the faith and affirming that “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God”. Paul’s ability to get up, bloody and beaten, and continue preaching the next day provides the characteristics that any believer can apply to their own life when facing hardship.

The Formula for Getting Up: The Five C’s (H2)

Dr. Stanley identifies five essential characteristics that motivated Paul and will enable any believer to get up when they feel down. These are Conversion, Conviction, Confidence, Courage, and Commitment.

1. Conversion: The Unforgettable Foundation (H3)

Paul’s ability to get up was rooted in the memory of his conversion experience. He could never forget the day he was physically blinded by the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. In Acts 9, Christ asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”.

When facing hardship, the believer must recall their salvation experience. When Jesus saved you, He did not save you to stay down; He saved you so that “whatever you’re going through in life, you get up and keep going”.

Recalling salvation means remembering:

• Your sins were washed away.
• Your name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
• You became a child of God.

No matter what happens, knowing that your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life should motivate you to praise God in spite of it, and “when you’re praising God, you can’t stay down”.

2. Conviction: Knowing Your Divine Purpose (H3)

The second thing that enabled Paul to get up was his conviction—he knew his purpose in life. He recognized he was not just a “victim of stones”; he had been appointed for the defense of the gospel by Jesus Christ.

Even when seemingly dead or unconscious, Paul remembered that he was chosen and had a clear sense of direction. This conviction is essential for every believer.

This conviction included the profound truth that he had “learned to be content in whatever circumstance I’m in,” knowing how to live both in prosperity and in need. This secret is encapsulated in the famous verse: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

Furthermore, God uses the suffering, pain, and rejection that believers experience to “equip us to know how to respond to other people who are going through those things”.

3. Confidence: Unbreakable Assurance in Christ (H3)

Paul possessed an awesome confidence rooted in the knowledge that he was chosen by Almighty God. This confidence is articulated in Romans 8, where he asks: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”. Having already experienced tribulation, distress, persecution, and the sword, Paul was certain that none of these things could separate him from Christ.

Paul states, “In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us”. He was convinced that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.

This confidence forms the solid basis for getting up. Even if Paul had died, his confidence assured him that he would be “absent from the body… present with the Lord”.

4. Courage: Empowered by the Holy Spirit (H3)

It takes courage to endure difficulty, hardship, and pain. Paul’s courage was not based on his own strength but on the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul confirms that God “prepared us for this very purpose” and gave us the Spirit as a pledge. This pledge guarantees that the Spirit will always be with the believer, empowering them and providing direction.

The basis of our courage is the indwelling Holy Spirit, who has “all the power of the Godhead within Him”. Therefore, believers are commanded to be “always of good courage,” living by faith and not by sight.

• Though we live in a fearful age where danger can come suddenly, believers are called to rely on the Holy Spirit’s encouragement in every single situation of life.

5. Commitment: Obligated to Share the Gospel (H3)

Paul’s final motivation was his unwavering commitment to Jesus Christ. He viewed himself as “under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish”. This commitment was so profound that he was eager to preach the gospel to those in Rome, stating, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes”.

This sense of obligation and commitment motivated him to get up, even when he had many reasons to walk away and say he had done enough. Every Christian has this commitment: to walk in a relationship with Jesus Christ so that everybody who meets you meets Him. Your testimony—how you live and what you do—affects other people’s lives.