God’s voice do we really believe He can speak to us and that we can hear Him? It’s funny because people talk about hearing from God all the time, but do we really expect to hear from Him, audibly? Today we are going to look at a passage where the Luke says that the Apostle Paul had a vision where the Lord literally spoke to him. It shouldn’t surprise us, one of the things that we see throughout the book of Acts is God moving in supernatural ways, there was the decent of the Spirit at Pentecost and also on the Gentiles, people were healed through the Spirit, then there are those times when Luke records that someone was “full of the Spirit” when the spoke and people responded by accepting God’s salvation.
Remember where we are as we look at this particular journey of Paul. God supernaturally stopped him from going some places and then finally told him to go to Macedonia, where he founded the church in Philippi. There Paul cast out a demon and God sent an earthquake, not to rescue Paul but to allow Paul and Silas to lead the jailer and his household to salvation. Today were going to look at another time when Paul needed to hear a word from God.
Acts 18:1-17, “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Pricsilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews 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 clear of my responsibility. From no on I will go to the Gentiles.” Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. One night 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 for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “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 and your own law-settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So he had them ejected from the courts. Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.”
This passage tells the story of Paul’s trip to Corinth. It was an unlikely city for a movement of God. It was located in southern Greece about 50 miles from Athens, and about two miles south of the narrow isthmus that forms a land bridge between the main landmass of Greece and the Peloponnesus. This isthmus was less then four miles wide so Corinth had the unique advantage of having not 1 but two major harbors one on each side of the sea. At one point the temple of Aphrodite dominated the landscape, it was the home of 1,000 temple prostitutes. Even though that temple had fallen into ruin by Paul’s time, the prostitutes were still there serving in lesser temples that had been built since then. Sailors from the ports often felt the need to “worship”. But it wasn’t just the temples that gave Corinth its reputation much of the city was given to indulging our baser desires. It was noted by a historian of the time that whenever a Corinthian character appeared in a Greek play, they were always drunk. The great Bible commentator William Barclay wrote that Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth. Let’s just be honest Corinth was the Las Vegas of it’s day.
It wouldn’t seem to be a place that God would work to plant a church. But God has never been as concerned with the condition of the people of a city as He has been with His people. If His people are dedicated then He can do great things despite the surroundings. As we’ve seen through the book of Acts God has already been working to assemble the group of people that will be necessary to reach the city for Him. We see the start of it in verse 2, “There 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.”
As with much of what Luke wrote there is a lot of information in this simple verse. We not only hear about Aquila and Priscilla but we learn why they came to Corinth and when they came to Corinth. We also get another one of those facts that points to Luke’s accuracy as a historian and shows us that we can trust what he wrote. This is a historical fact, in 49 A.D. the Roman Emperor Claudius ordered all of the Jews to be expelled from Rome. Because of the date of the decree we know that Paul came to Corinth by at least 50 A.D.
Why did Claudius expel the Jews from Rome? Well the commentators think that there were a couple of reasons. One is that the monotheistic Jewish religion didn’t play well with the polytheism that ruled most of the Roman empire. The other is that the Jews and the Christians were already starting to debate each other in Rome and rather then deal with it the emperor simply expelled them from the city, problem solved, for a while anyways.
So Priscilla and Aquila come to Corinth about the same time that Paul does. Paul has an interesting dilemma. After his sermon at Mars Hill, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth alone. You’ll remember that Paul was supposed to wait in Athens until Silas and Timothy were finished in Berea and could catch up. Now he’s not only one city ahead of them but two. The deal is that Silas and Timothy have the offering that are supposed to support them. In other words Paul needs a job and it appears that he becomes a tentmaker.
So were Aquila and Priscilla, notice the end of verse 2 beginning of verse 3, “Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.” Because they had a common trade, Paul was able to find common ground with Aquila and Priscilla. So they work together and they talk together. Here is what’s interesting to me. As I look at this passage so far there’s something that Luke didn’t say. He didn’t say that they were devote Jews, or that they were followers of the Way, or anything else that would cause us to believe that they were Christians. Luke tells us that they were Jews. There is nothing to tell us that they were already believers. As we talk about the fact that we are supposed to reach the people around us for Christ, I think that we see in Paul one of the ways that we can do it. Yes Paul, went into the synagogue and debates, yes in Athens he also went into the market place and ultimately to Mars Hill. But there is the very real possibility that here he just formed a friendship with two people and out of that relationship he shared with them.
This is how all of us can do it. We’re not all called to preach in public places, we’re not all called to reason with philosophers and debate with them. So many times though that’s what we think of when we think about evangelism. We think that we have to go knock on doors, or share on the streets with strangers. We know that the church is God’s plan to reach the world and somehow we try and take all of that on to us. Listen I’m not saying that those things are bad, I’ve actually done all of them and led people on groups to do them. They are all good, but that’s not the only way to be an evangelist. I think for most of us that’s not even the best way and if we think about trying to save the world that way we’ll never do anything because the task is too big. Listen, as individuals we aren’t called to save the world, but we are called to reach out to the people next to us.
I got a great call from one of you this week, he’s been sharing with someone at work and they wanted to talk with a Pastor so he wanted to know if I would call them. My answer of course was, “yes.” No it wasn’t it was, “y answer of course was, “yes.” No it wasn’t it was, “YES!” Why because I can preach this every Sunday until Jesus comes again, you can all say amen, but until you guys live it, it doesn’t matter. We need to be looking at the people around us that God is waiting to open doors for us to share Him with and then do it, with patience and love. If we will all do just that, and then let the evangelism Rambo’s do their work, our world will change, Corinth changed and so can Phoenix. The first place that Paul made an impact wasn’t necessarily in the synagogue but in his work place. How big a difference did that make, Aquila and Priscilla have been called the most famous couple in the New Testament church, they are referenced 7 times in Paul and Luke’s work. Paul found common ground and reach out to them, and they reached out to others and were used as absolute cornerstones of the church that was being created.
So Paul arrives and begins to lay a foundation for the church that God is going to build. He works with them as for a while and then Silas and Timothy finally catch up to them. Again we don’t know exactly what they were doing in Berea but we know it was good. But there is another blessing for Paul, they had the money that the churches had given to support Paul’s ministry, so with their arrival Paul was able to go back to being fully devoted to ministry. This is one of the biggest blessings that a person can be given. I’ve been a “tent maker” pastor before. It was a blessed time in the lives of Linda and I but there were always so many things that we couldn’t do because I had a job. It is a blessing to be able to do ministry full time. This month is pastor appreciation month but I want to tell you how much I appreciate you and the blessing you give me by allowing me to be your pastor. It’s not just a blessing but an honor to be here. Paul knew exactly what I am talking about.
So there is a lot of good going on in his life at this point. He has Aquila and Priscilla who, whether they were believers before they met Paul or not, are almost certainly believers by this point in time. He has the funds to devote himself fulltime to preaching the gospel. There is so much going so well and yet at the same time there is so much going so wrong. Paul is doing what he is used to doing. The end of verse 5 says that Paul was, “testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” But just like at Mars Hill it’s not working. Look at verse 6, “But when the Jews 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 clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” At first glance the passage is pretty surprising. It says the Jews became abusive, and so Paul stops witnessing. I mean this is Paul. Imprisoned no problem he keep preaching, beaten, no problem, he keeps preaching, stoned and left for dead no problem, he goes back to the same place and keeps preaching. It’s funny to me, if you go home after church today and watch a couple of football games, at some point the announce is going to say about some football player that he is unstoppable. Forget that, their just playing a game with a ball, Paul was unstoppable. But now something happens and Paul stops. It’s not that they stopped him. Paul stops himself.
It says he shakes his clothes out it was a symbolic gesture absolving him of responsibility and inviting judgment on them. And that’s what he tells them, their blood is on their heads. Paul, the apostle of grace is angry. What is he so angry about, what stops the unstoppable apostle? Two words, they don’t come out well in our English translations but here they are, “antitassomai blasphemounton.” Antitassomi is where we get the idea of opposition, and blasphemounton refers to blaspheme or to slander verbally. This word occurs four times in Acts and it is never good.
Paul has been opposed before, but this time its different this time slander was in the air. Commentators won’t specify if this was aimed at Christ or Paul, but I believe it was aimed at Christ for a couple of reasons. The first is the character of Paul. It would be hard for someone to come up with an insult that he hadn’t heard before. Insults did not stop the unstoppable apostle. Last week we read that in Athens they called him a babbler, it didn’t stop him, he preached what might have been his greatest sermon and he did it on the fly. I don’t think an insult would have stopped him. All pastors have negative stuff said about us. If you preach to enough people, enough times, not everybody is going to like what you say or how you say it. Paul knew this. I don’t think a barb aimed at Paul could have gotten to him like this.
I think they slandered Jesus and that whatever they said was so bad that not only did Paul get angry and leave, but Luke wouldn’t even write it down. There was so much good going on and yet so much bad at the same time. Whatever was said, that attitude in the synagogue was such that Paul not only didn’t want to preach there, he realized that it wasn’t even going to be effective to preach there.
So what did he do, did he give up? No, when Paul didn’t have success in the usual place, he changed course and went someplace different. What is the lesson for us? There are some people that we can preach to for years and never see fruit. Some people just aren’t going to respond to the gospel, maybe they won’t respond to us, or the message itself. What do we do? It’s not that we give up on them, but we do look for other people to share with. I have a friend who is like a brother to me. In fact I talk to him more then I talk to my sister. I’ve prayed and talked with him about Christ since we were kids, I’m talk about third grade. He sometimes he seems to be moving closer, sometimes he seems to be moving further away. I will never give up on my friend, but I will also not let him be the focus of my personal witnessing either.
Some people just aren’t going to respond, our job isn’t to make them respond our job is to be faithful to share. And like Paul sometimes when we share our faith, they will say bad things about us. It’s ok it happens, maybe that means that like Paul we simply share someplace else, but it doesn’t mean that we let it stop us. Paul would say they’re just words, I don’t see any scars. If we want to reach our world for Christ we can’t let words stop us either. When we see a closed door we have to look for one that is open.
Paul was used to going to the synagogue and debating. That is what had worked. But now it’s not working, so rather then keep doing the same thing, he tries something new. Look at verse 7, “Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.” He said he was going to go to the gentiles and he did. Not just who he was speaking to but where he stayed. He’s always stayed with Jews until now, but not he goes and stays with Titius and we’re not told that he’s a Jew but “a worshiper of God.” Paul is intentionally doing everything he can to reach his culture. He’s trying to understand the culture so that he can communicate the message rather then make the culture understand him so they can understand the message.
The results are interesting, look at the next few verses, “Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.” He tells the Jews he’s done with them, everyone in the synagogue, I’m done with you. The result, the leader of the ruler of the synagogue, and his household are saved. But it’s not just that, Paul did go out and preach to the gentiles and the result is that many of the Corinthians were saved as well. Paul changes, he does it different then he’s done it before and the result is that many people were saved.
We saw it last week and we see it again here, if we want to reach a changing world for Christ, we have to be willing to change, not the message, because that is God’s but the way that we do it. That is an uncomfortable path, not just for us, but for Paul. The path of change is often dangerous and full of doubt. Even for Paul. Look at the vision that God has to send to him, verse 9, “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.” God doesn’t appear in vision’s often, when He does there’s a reason. He appears in this vision and tells Paul not to be afraid. Why does He have to do that? Because Paul is afraid, he’s changed his approach, he’s changed where he preaches, he’s changed who he preaches to. It’s a lot of change, and it has him nervous, but God says, do not be afraid. Sometimes we have to change, we change the music, we bring in a new children’s program, but if we are preaching the gospel of Christ and trying to reach our community for God and make disciples, then the message that God has for us is, “Do not be afraid.” Paul changed, his world was full of doubt, but God spoke and told Paul to stay on the path. Change is not easy but if God is in it then we must do it.
Paul preaches for a year and a half and then he really gets into trouble. Verse 12, “While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a untied attack on Paul and brought him into court. ‘This man,’ they charged, ‘is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” Paul got arrested a lot, it happens here again. There must have been a new ruler in the synagogue and they grab Paul and they attack Paul with what was essentially a religious dispute. We can still do this in church can’t we? We argue about things that don’t matter as if they are life and death. We’re supposed to convert people to Christ and yet so many times we want to convert them to Christianity. Do we want people to join our religion or know our savior? We have to understand something when we let our preferences divide us it turns the outside world off. If you want to know their perspective look at Gallio’s response.
Just as Paul was about to speak, “Gallio said to the Jews, 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 and your own law-settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things. So he had them ejected from the court.” All their arguments sounded so good. I’m sure they sat around with all their complaints and they felt completely justified in what they were saying. The problem was that they were all thinking alike and no one was thinking like the people they were supposed to reach. It sounded so good, so pious, so right, so they arrest Paul they drag him before the procounsul and say, look at what he’s done. We’re told that Paul was going to respond, that Paul almost is drawn into the attack but Gallio, the outsider, didn’t want to hear it. I think God spared Paul, from being drawn into a debate that simply wasn’t worth it. The outside world may respond to the gospel, they may be interested in our beliefs, but when we just want to sit around and argue about our preferences they don’t want to hear it. There is one message that we need to be preaching, that Jesus Christ is not just the hope for the nations but for all people, not as a big collective group, but as individuals. If you’re here and you’ve never asked Christ to be a part of your life, never become a Christ follower, please do it today. It may not be easy, but it will always be worth it. God not only wants to give you eternal life, but to make your life better today, to help you become the person you’ve always wanted to be.
There’s one final lesson that we must look at in this passage though. The aftermath, look at our passage, “he had them ejected from the court. Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.” Who is they, the Jews, the mob that arrested Paul, who did they turn on, Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue. In other words, the man who led the mob to arrest Paul was turned on by the same mob when it failed. This is the thing about hanging out with negative people and having negative conversations, the same people, who were willing to attack Paul turned on Paul’s accuser. If you’re sitting around with a group of people speaking bad about someone else what makes you think they’re not speaking badly of you when you’re gone? As followers of Christ we need to make sure that we have conversations that honor Him. One final thing to see though, the grace of God for everyone, Sosthenes was the leader of the synagogue, he was probably the reason God had to send Paul that vision, he probably made Paul’s life miserable for that year and a half. But God got his attention. It took a mob to do it, but we’re pretty sure he did it. Why, Paul’s first letter back to the church in Corinth begins like this, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes.” If Paul could call his accuser brother, what is stopping you from finding God today?
