OUR LORD’S SOVEREIGN ROSTER

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 26, 2023 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: April 26, 2023 from Acts 18:1-17

Theme: We can work for the gospel in confidence; because our Lord knows those who have been given to Him by the Father.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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Before He went to the cross for us—before He paid the price to redeem us—our Lord Jesus made it clear that He knew those who had been sovereignly given to Him by the Father. In John 10, He was speaking to those who opposed Him; and He told them,

“I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).

He knew—with absolute confidence—who were His, because God the Father gave them to Him. And what’s more, He knew that none of them would fail to come to Him. He made this very clear when He said,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).

And this should be a great encouragement to you and me; dear brothers and sisters. We, of course, do not know who it is around us that may be Jesus’ sheep who have yet to hear—and who have yet to come to Him. It’s not our job to know that. Instead, our job is to bear witness of Him and invite people to come to Him. But even during those times when that work is hard, and even when the cultural environment is hostile to the gospel we proclaim, we can rest assured that those who have been given to Him as His sheep will indeed come!

We see this very powerfully illustrated to us in Acts 18:1-17 … and in the story of Paul’s ministry in the ancient city of Corinth.

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Corinth was the capital city of Achaia. It was about fifty miles west of Athens. While Athens was a cultural center, Corinth was a commercial center. It was so situated that it allowed easy transport eastward to Asia Minor and westward to Italy. But it was also a religious center—chiefly for the immoral worship of Aphrodite.

Of all the communities of Christians that Paul involved himself with, he carried on the most correspondence with the Christians in the ancient city of Corinth. And in this important ‘background’ story in Acts 18, we discover that the Lord Jesus had great plans for the people in it. Even though Corinth seemed like an unlikely place for a great work of God to occur—and even though the work was very hard—our Lord encouraged his missionary Paul by telling him to keep at it; “for I have many people in this city.”

Consider first …

1. PAUL’S INTRODUCTION TO THE CITY (vv. 1-4).

Verse 1 begins by saying, “After these things …” It all began when trouble arose against Paul in Berea of Macedonia. So; the believers conducted Paul out of town and sent him to Athens—with instructions for his missionary partners Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as they were able. And so, as we saw in our last study, Paul was used by God to bring the good news of the gospel to a community of very intelligent and cultured people in Athens who had not heard of it before.

So; verses 1-2 tell us;

After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them (Acts 18:1-2).

Pontus was a city in Asia Minor. It’s mentioned in 1 Peter 1:1 as one of the many places that persecuted Jewish Christians had to flee. Apparently, Aquila and his wife Priscilla had moved from Pontas to Italy, and then to Achaia to settle in Corinth. This was a very dear and godly Jewish couple who were very useful to the Lord and who were a great support to Paul. In Romans 16:3, he called them “my fellow workers in Christ Jesus”. And in 1 Corinthians 16:19, it appears that they sent their heartfelt greetings to the Corinthian church—having moved back to Asia in order to host a church in their house. But at this point of the story, they were in Corinth because the emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews out of Rome.

Paul, we’re told, “came to them”—perhaps in part because he had already known them; and perhaps in part because they were Jewish, and would make it possible for him to build a relationship with the Jews in Corinth. Verses 3-4 go on to tell us;

So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks (vv. 3-4).

Paul was still waiting for his missionary partners to come to him. But he was not idle while he waited. Since Aquila and Priscilla were in the tentmaking trade—and since Paul had worked in that trade in the past—he went to work for them. (I remember an older pastor once saying to young preachers, “When leave your trade to go into ministry, don’t throw away your tools!” This was because there will be times in ministry when work in the old trade may be needed. This seems to have been the case for Paul. He may even have been employing a method that is often today called BAM (Business as Mission). It gave him the opportunity to integrate into the commercial world of Corinth as a basis from which to support and carry on his ministry to the Jewish people.

Later on, Paul would be glad that he did this. As he told the Corinthian believers, he and his ministry partners—in their missionary work—“labor, working with our own hands” (1 Corinthians 4:12). It enabled him to preach the gospel to the Corinthians “free of charge”, and to keep himself from being a burden to them (2 Corinthians 11:7-9). This protected his integrity as a preacher—and it also yanked the rug out from under the false teachers in Corinth who were always demanding money.

Now; all of this was preparatory for what the Lord had in store. The Lord knew in advance who was going to come to Him through Paul’s ministry. And so, this leads us to …

2. THE LORD’S ASSURANCE OF SUCCESS (vv. 5-11).

We’re told in verse 5;

When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ (v. 5).

He had been ministering already to the Jewish people in Corinth. But when his ministry partners finally arrived, he was encouraged and kicked things into high gear. As the New American Standard translation has it, “Paul began devoting himself completely to the word”. This probably means that he ceased his tentmaking work, and devoted himself full-time to the ministry of the gospel in Corinth. (This may even have been made possible by a very generous gift that the Christians in Macedonia sent to him through the hands of Silas and Timothy. In 2 Corinthians 11:9, he wrote that “what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied”.

And now, Paul’s message to his Jewish brethren became very straightforward. He testified to them that Jesus is the Christ—the long-awaited and prophesied Messiah. But that was when tensions arose from among the Jewish people in the synagogue. We’re told in verse 6;

But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

In shaking his garments, he was probably following the command of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 10:14—where the Lord had said, “And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.” And his strong words about their blood being upon their own heads probably came from Ezekiel 33:4; where it is written, “whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.” Thus Paul was following the pattern he had followed elsewhere. He preached the gospel to the Jews first; and then only went to the Gentiles after the Jewish people had rejected the message.

Love for his own people, however, wouldn’t allow him to go very far. Verses 7-8 tell us;

And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized (vv. 7-8).

Justus was apparently a Gentile who worshiped God. And it was from this man’s house that Paul continued to teach. His close proximity to the synagogue must have had an impact on the Jewish people; because Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed. Paul later wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:14 about how he had baptized Crispus’ household.

But Paul, nevertheless, may have felt some discouragement in all of this. He may have had a growing sense of uncertainty about it all. In fact—because of the troubles he had seen in previous cities—he may have become tempted to keep silent. And it was then that the Lord gave him a vision that affirmed that He knows—in advance—who are the ones that had been given to Him by the Father. Verses 9-10 say;

Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city” (vv. 9-10).

Consider carefully what the Lord told him. He told him that (1) he was not to be afraid, that (2) he was not to be silent but to speak the gospel, that (3) the Lord Himself was with him, that (4) no one will harm him, and that (5) the Lord had many people in the city of Corinth. You see; it was already known to the Lord who it was that had been sovereignly given to Him by the Father. And this assures us, when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed by us in the places where the Lord puts us, it will always be successful.

This encouraged Paul greatly. We’re told in verse 11;

And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them (v. 11).

Now; this, of course, didn’t mean that things went smoothly. God often works out the success of His gospel through difficulties and trials. And this leads us, finally, to …

3. THE CIRCUMSTANCE IN WHICH THAT SUCCESS WAS PURSUED (vv. 12-17).

Paul had carried on a very effective ministry for a year and a half. And it’s then that we’re told, in verses 12-13;

When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law” (vv. 12-13).

This sounds like the kind of accusation that was made by hostile Jewish leaders in Thessalonica and Berea (17:6-7); and may have referred to the idea that proselytizing a Roman citizen was illegal. They went so far as to drag Paul before the Roman official named Gallio. Paul was about to give his defense; but it may be one of the few times when Paul opened his mouth and nothing came out. We’re told in verses 14-16;

And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” And he drove them from the judgment seat (vv. 14-16).

The Greeks observed these proceedings; and it apparently angered them against the Jews. It could be that they felt that this controversy—which they viewed as Jewish in nature—was stirring up disruption in their fair city. Verse 17 tells us;

Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things (v. 17).

Sosthenes was, perhaps, a synagogue ruler who had replaced Crispus. Or it may be that he was a ruler along with Crispus. But in either case, it caused the Gentiles to beat him. “How horrible”, we think. “How could anything good come out of that!” And yet, even this is a reminder of the workings of the sovereign Lord who knows in advance those who are His. In 1 Corinthians 1:1—in Paul’s first recorded letter to the Corinthians that we have in our Bible—he begins by saying,

Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother … (1 Corinthians 1:1).

Nothing stops the sovereign Lord from calling to Himself those that are His!

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One of the great lessons of Paul’s ministry in Corinth is that the sovereign God knows who it is that the Father has given Him. Even in the most unlikely of places (and Corinth was indeed a very unlikely place for a work of God), the Lord knows who it is that are His own sheep.

Therefore, we can go confidently into those places He sends us; bearing the saving message of Christ, and knowing that those that the Father has given to Him in those places will hear and believe.

AE