The Jews of Corinth
Acts 18:1-17
February 24, 2013
As you know we are dealing with Paul’s second missionary journey.
And over the course of the last couple of weeks
We are dealing with the opposition Paul has faced on this trip.
• The first part of this trip caused us to easily recognize the sovereign hand of God.
• The second part of this trip causes us to recognize the sinister hand of Satan.
We saw Paul deal with the Jews of Thessalonica and their mob mentality.
• They were not noble-minded.
• They were not truth seekers.
• They were simply jealous of Paul’s success and therefore sought to kill him.
And we face our mobs today.
Any time a group of people reach a senseless level of aggression
And just close their ears to reason and seek to stop the truth.
We see them.
And from Paul we learned how to deal with them: ENDURE
They ran him out of Thessalonica
So he went to Berea and once again preached in the synagogue.
Of course in Athens Paul met a different kind of opposition. These men would not have been considered ignorant, indeed they were just the opposite.
• These were the philosophers of the day.
• They were the critical thinkers, the questioners of their time.
• They were too sophisticated to form a mob.
The problem was they were too sophisticated to listen to Paul.
• They called him an “idle babbler”
• They called God a “strange deity”
• They called the gospel “strange things”
And they put Paul basically on trial before the court of human opinion
With the goal of humiliating him.
And we are familiar with mockers.
Men who are too educated or intellectual for the gospel.
And since the gospel runs contrary to the wisdom of man,
We often encounter this type of opposition.
Thankfully Paul showed us how to deal with the mockers of our time: PREACH THE GOSPEL
• Paul didn’t argue on a philosophical level
• Paul didn’t argue on a scientific level
• Paul didn’t argue on a rational level
• Paul didn’t argue on an intellectual level
Paul simply related the truths of God.
God is creator
God deserves worship
God demands repentance
God will judge
Paul taught us that we don’t have to look smart in their eyes
To deliver the truth.
Well, tonight we come across the third group of opposition:
The Jews of Corinth
And these men are MALIGNERS (blasphemers)
And we run across them too.
These are people who have heard the truth, know it to be the truth,
And then reject it anyway.
And not only do they reject it, they verbally and openly attack it.
And Paul shows us how to deal with them as well.
#1 THE OPPRESSION
Acts 18:1-17
Last week we saw that Paul had an INNER OPPRESSION.
He saw the idols of Athens and had a burning in his heart to address it.
Here Paul still has an inner oppression, but you can’t call it anger,
HERE PAUL IS FACING DISILLUSIONMENT.
We actually do ourselves a disservice when we put men like Paul on such a pedestal that we think them unable to struggle as we do.
Paul was a man.
Now he walked by the Spirit and therefore accomplished great things,
But he was a man none the less.
And all throughout Scripture men who serve God struggle.
Charles Spurgeon:
“It were better to break stones on a road than to be a preacher, unless God had given the Holy Spirit to sustain him. The heart and soul of a man who speaks for God will know no ease, for he hears in his hears that warning admonition, ‘If the watchman warned them not, they perished, but their blood will I require from the watchman’s hands.’ Is the infallible revelation of the infallible Jehovah to be moderated, to be shaped, to be toned down to the fancies of the hour? God forbid us if we ever alter His word.”
Spurgeon himself suffered with severe depression for much of his life.
• We cannot forget how the prophets in Scripture were treated.
• We cannot forget what sort of opposition Jesus promised to the disciples.
F.R. Maltby said, “Jesus promised His disciples three things: they would be absurdly happy, completely fearless, and in constant trouble.”
The reality is that it is a hard job
To be God’s spokesman or to lead God’s people.
Consider the cries of some of the men of old.
Moses
Numbers 11:11-15 “So Moses said to the LORD, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? “Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’? “Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ “I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me. “So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”
Joshua
Joshua 7:7 “Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord GOD, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to dwell beyond the Jordan!”
Elijah
1 Kings 19:4 “But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
Job
Job 3:1-4 “Afterward Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job said, “Let the day perish on which I was to be born, And the night which said, ‘A boy is conceived.’ “May that day be darkness; Let not God above care for it, Nor light shine on it.”
Jeremiah
Jeremiah 20:14-18 “Cursed be the day when I was born; Let the day not be blessed when my mother bore me! Cursed be the man who brought the news To my father, saying, “A baby boy has been born to you!” And made him very happy. But let that man be like the cities Which the LORD overthrew without relenting, And let him hear an outcry in the morning And a shout of alarm at noon; Because he did not kill me before birth, So that my mother would have been my grave, And her womb ever pregnant. Why did I ever come forth from the womb To look on trouble and sorrow, So that my days have been spent in shame?”
Jonah (although wrongly)
Jonah 4:1-4 “But it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, “Please LORD, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this I fled to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. “Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life.” The LORD said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
Even when Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;”
Spurgeon had it right.
It is a hard job, and at times this job takes its toll on the messenger.
That is precisely what we see here in the life of Paul.
Let me help you see what his life has been like of late.
It all started with a genuine desire to return to the mission field
And see how those churches were doing.
It all seemingly went downhill from there.
• A Divided Team
• A New Destination
• Physical Abuse & Jail Time
• 2 Hostile Evacuations
• A Separated Team
• A Public Mocking in Athens
• 53 mile walk, alone, to Corinth (the scariest city in the region)
It is almost like “Murphy’s Law”
“What can go wrong, will go wrong.”
• At this point Paul is financially broke. (that is why he is working)
• Paul is also afraid.
(9) “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;”
He actually told the Corinthians in his first letter:
1 Corinthians 2:3 “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,”
• It is not a stretch to say he was lonely.
• And we know he was burdened.
It is not recorded in the Acts account, but we learn from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians that Timothy and Silas did join Paul in Athens.
But as soon as they arrived,
He sent Timothy back to Thessalonica
And Silas somewhere else in Macedonia (probably Philippi)
WHY? He was heavily burdened.
1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 “Therefore when we could endure it no longer, we thought it best to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you as to your faith, so that no one would be disturbed by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we have been destined for this. For indeed when we were with you, we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer affliction; and so it came to pass, as you know. For this reason, when I could endure it no longer, I also sent to find out about your faith, for fear that the tempter might have tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.”
Not only that, but now Paul was in Corinth.
• To help you understand, Corinth was a cross-roads city.
• It was also a port city
• It was also home to Aphrodite’s temple
It was so immoral and so dangerous that the term “Corinthianize”
Became synonymous with sexual immorality.
And Paul was in this violent, immoral city,
All by himself and on his last emotional nerve.
Paul had reached a real low point of disillusionment.
And that is seen here in the first 4 verses.
(READ VS. 1-4)
I can identify with Paul here, as most can in one way or another.
• He loved to preach.
• He was entrusted with the gospel.
• And on the Sabbath he still fulfilled his calling to do that.
But quite honestly, there were times
When he would just as soon be making tents.
(I can retreat to my woodshop pretty easily)
PAUL IS NOT ALONE
I often think of Peter, after his denial, even after the resurrection.
Peter decides to return to his former occupation.
John 21:3 “Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.”
The Greek there indicates that Peter was returning to fishing,
Not just going for an outing.
Of course Jesus re-routed all the fish in the sea, and ultimately appeared to Peter and three times told him to “feed My sheep”
Peter was no longer a fisherman, Peter was now a shepherd.
Well, Paul was no longer a tent maker, Paul was church builder.
And God is about to help him out.
The Oppression
#2 THE OPPOSITION
Acts 18:5-8
Verse 5 here actually put an end to Paul’s oppression.
“But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.”
HOW DID THEIR COMING HELP?
Timothy came from Thessalonica:
1 Thessalonians 3:6-8 “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always think kindly of us, longing to see us just as we also long to see you, for this reason, brethren, in all our distress and affliction we were comforted about you through your faith; for now we really live, if you stand firm in the Lord.”
Silas came from Philippi
Philippians 4:10-14 “But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.”
• Through the Thessalonians Paul received emotional comfort.
• Through the Philippians Paul received financial help.
Both proved to be exactly what it took to re-energize this missionary.
When they arrived Paul was revitalized
And went right back into full-blown ministry.
So the oppression is over, but the opposition is about to pick up.
(6) “But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
So there you have those MALIGNING JEWS OF CORINTH.
They “resisted and blasphemed”
“resisted” translates ANTITASSO
It means “to arrange in battle against”
In some ways these men were like the Thessalonians with their militant style, the only difference is they were more organized.
But aside from just resisting, they also “blasphemed”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
It means to speak out against.
These men didn’t just reject Christ, they reviled Him.
They spoke against Him, they maligned Him, they verbally attacked Him.
• At times we come across people who neglect the gospel.
• At times we come across people who get angry, but don’t know why.
• And at times we come across people who are actually hostile toward Jesus.
WHAT DO YOU DO WITH THOSE PEOPLE?
How do you respond to them?
Exactly like Paul did.
“he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Jesus said:
Matthew 7:6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”
Matthew 10:14-15 “Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.”
Jesus said to depart.
There is no use arguing with a mad dog or a dirty pig.
And it has amazed me in our day how many think that this is
“SO UNCHRISTIAN”.
I thought we were supposed to handle and accept abuse.
We are. When it is aimed toward us.
Jesus did that.
1 Peter 2:23 “and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”
Jesus even allowed Himself to be blasphemed.
But you know what He didn’t allow?
He didn’t allow the Holy Spirit to be blasphemed.
Matthew 12:32 “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.”
If someone attacks you personally, sure you have to die to self
And endure it, just like Jesus did.
But we don’t have to just stand there and let the world attack Jesus.
We don’t have to treat that like it’s ok.
• Would you let them malign your spouse?
• Would you let them malign your kids?
• Would you let them malign your momma?
Then why in the world would you let them malign Jesus?
Paul wouldn’t.
They started out against Jesus, and he said that was enough.
Paul was filled with a righteous indignation.
And honestly I think at times we have far too little of this.
I’ve been studying the Holy Spirit lately.
And one of the things I have noticed about Him is that
When we are filled with Him we take on His emotions.
Could be compassion…
Could be mercy…
Could be joy or love…
But it could also be indignation:
1 Samuel 11:5-6 “Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry.”
There are some things that should anger us.
(Was Jesus not angry when He saw what the chief priests were doing to His Father’s temple?)
There are some things that should anger us,
And one of those things is when people verbally malign Jesus.
Paul had enough.
He shook out his garments –
Symbolic of not wanting any of their filthy dirt on him.
And he said, “Your blood be on your own heads!”
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
It comes from Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 3:16-21 “At the end of seven days the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. “When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. “Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. “Again, when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I place an obstacle before him, he will die; since you have not warned him, he shall die in his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. “However, if you have warned the righteous man that the righteous should not sin and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; and you have delivered yourself.”
Paul mentions it again later in Acts.
Acts 20:25-27 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”
That is what Paul is referring to here.
I did all that I was required of me, you are on your own.
He voiced his displeasure at their opposition.
He said, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
BUT (and you’ll love this) HE STILL MAINTAINED THE LOVE OF GOD
(7) “Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.”
DON’T YOU LOVE THAT?
• Paul is pulling out!
• He is gone!
• He’s done with those Jews!
He walked right out the front door
And into the house right next to the synagogue.
That is a tremendous picture of both the indignation
And the long-suffering of God.
He voiced his displeasure, but did not totally cast them aside.
In fact Paul still maintained such a ministry
That even the synagogue leader was eventually saved.
(8) “Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.”
But I think you get a good idea
Of how to handle those maligning blasphemers.
• To the mob – we endure
• To the mockers – we preach the truth
• To the maligners – we rebuke and depart (always open to their repentance)
Now, let me show you one more aspect of the story.
The Oppression, The Opposition
#3 THE OPPORTUNITY
Acts 18:9-17
Remember now what Paul is up against.
Sure, he has been revived by the coming of Timothy and Silas,
But he is still in a hostile city with a hostile synagogue right next door.
This is a very intimidating place to be.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A SITUATION WHERE HONESTLY
YOU WERE SIMPLY AFRAID TO PREACH THE GOSPEL?
That is where Paul is.
But notice God open a door of opportunity for Paul.
(9-10) “And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
WHAT A STATEMENT!
“Do not be afraid”
“go on speaking”
“do not be silent”
WHY?
“I am with you”
“no man will attack you”
“I have many people in this city.”
I’ve actually had a moment similar to that.
When we went to Africa the first time, I was terrified.
I was pretty sure I was going to die over there.
Beyond that we had been told that wild animals shouldn’t be an issue,
But where we were going was known to have a large mamba (snake)
And scorpion population.
Carrie’s prayer before I left didn’t help much, “I know he will come home; I don’t know when or in what condition.”
And in all our studies before we left, all I could ever get from the Lord was be willing to suffer, be faithful to preach, proclaim My name.
So I was pretty stressed.
We flew from Lubbock to Dallas and then from Dallas to St. Louis.
And on that flight I opened my Bible and this is what I read:
Luke 10:17-20 “The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.” And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
Pretty good huh?
I think I know how Paul must have felt!
God had just written Paul a blank check and told him to settle in,
And get ready for revival!
People were about to get saved
And Satan would not be allowed to do a thing about it!
And Paul took advantage!
(11) “And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”
And that is really all we need to know, but it isn’t all we want to know.
So Luke shows us how God kept His promise.
(READ 12-17)
• There we have Satan testing the metal of God.
• And notice that Paul didn’t even have to speak.
• God fought this battle and God handled the enemy.
Paul was in the midst of a vile and dangerous city
And yet God had placed him in a bubble
To be able to preach the gospel without fear.
Praise God for that!
Was their oppression? Yes
Was their opposition? Yes
But neither of those things indicates a lack of opportunity.
God opened a door in the midst of those things
For one of Paul’s most fruitful mission moments ever.
And with that we are encouraged in regard to facing opposition.
• God delivered Paul from Thessalonica
• God delivered Paul from Athens
• God delivered Paul from Corinth
In fact Paul got so used to God’s deliverance,
At the end of his life he wrote to Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:16-18 “At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Paul certainly believed what he wrote when he said,
“If God be for us, who can be against us?”
When you face opposition,
• Be ready to endure against the mob.
• Be ready to preach to the mockers
• Be ready to rebuke the maligners
And at all times watch for God to open doors
You didn’t even think were possible for Him to open.
After all, this is His mission.
