Acts 18:9-17
⁹ Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: ¹⁰ For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. ¹¹ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ¹² And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, ¹³ Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law…
TRANSCRIPT
In our previous message we have learned that it is inevitable that we will face discouragement and disappointment as we serve the Lord. Who can strengthen us but only God Himself? And how will God strengthen us in such time? Well, in the same way God encouraged Paul, He will also encourage us. Remember, God had encouraged Paul through the blessing of new friends. When he was all alone without the support of his co-labourers, Silas and Timothy, God provided new friends, Aquilla and Priscilla, to help him.
God had also encouraged him through new converts. Ultimately, when we share the Gospel, what is the greatest joy? Is it not the salvation of souls? Well, God saved Justus (the one who stayed just beside the synagogue) through the ministry of Paul at Corinth, and also Crispus (the chief ruler of the synagogue) and his family, as well as many Corinthians who believed in the Gospel, and they were all baptised. We learnt that in our previous message.
I. The Blessing of God’s Presence (v.9-11)
Tonight, we will continue with this topic: how God encouraged His servant. Our first point is: ‘The blessing of God’s presence.’ Indeed, it is a blessing to have new friends: people like Aquilla and Priscilla. And even more so, it is a blessing to have new converts like Justus, Crispus and his family, and many of the Corinthians. But with the encouragement of new converts, came the intense opposition of the Jewish community – the unbelieving Jews – so much so that Paul was struggling about whether he should continue preaching at Corinth. He wrote about that in his epistles to the Corinthians. So, when you read 1 and 2 Corinthians, you can hear about how Paul spoke about his struggles.
In order to encourage His servant, God Himself appeared to him in a vision. So let us begin with verse 9 and 10. “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” This is one of the visions that Paul received in the Book of Acts. For example, after Paul was saved on the road to Damascus in Acts chapter 9 verse 12, he saw “in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him,” and he received his sight.
In Acts chapter 16 verse 9 to 10, when God called Paul to go over to Macedonia, in a vision Paul saw in the night, “There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” This is the third vision. In the first vision God appeared to Paul to deliver him from his blindness – remember he was blinded on the road to Damascus. In the second vision it was God calling him to go over to Macedonia. In this third vision it was God strengthening and encouraging his faith. We will learn about the other visions along the way as we study through the Book of Acts.
Do you realise that at different crucial points in Paul’s life, God knew His needs? He knew his weaknesses, his struggles, and God ministered to him in very special ways. Today, God may not speak to us in a vision, but the principle still applies: at different crucial moments in our lives, God will speak to us through His Word and through the wonder working of His Spirit in very special ways. Think about how God has called you to serve Him; He called you in a very unique way, right? Think about those times you were afflicted with illnesses and adversities, or when you were doubtful and confused. At those moments when you looked into God’s Word, He touched your heart in ways you have never experienced before. The purpose is to encourage our hearts, to help us to understand His will, that we may press on and persevere and continue to trust and believe in Him.
That was exactly what God did to Paul. God commanded Paul: “Be not afraid”. He knew that Paul was afraid, or at least beginning to be fearful. So, God said to him, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ “but speak,” (which means go on speaking, continue to speak) “and hold not thy peace” (do not be silent, do not let fear overwhelm you so much so that you stop speaking and keep quiet).
My friends, have you ever encountered oppositions in your life and ministry? In such a way that every time you speak, whether you are sharing the Gospel or you are just emphasising the truth, you are being attacked. You are being falsely accused. You face rejection, you face hostility all the time. And it comes to a point whereby you say to yourself: ‘Enough. From now onwards, I’m going to stop sharing the Gospel, I’m going to stop speaking and just keep quiet. I’m going to stop suggesting or contributing’, even though you know that speaking and suggesting is true; that is the right thing for you to do. Well, you must not be afraid. Do not give up. Continue to speak the truth.
Let’s see how God encouraged Paul. There are three things God said to him in verse 10. Firstly, God reminded Paul, “For I am with thee”. That awareness of God’s presence has not only encouraged the hearts of the believers throughout all ages, but that awareness had always spurred the believers to attempt great things for God. For example, Joshua was called to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Most of us are very familiar with that account. That was an enormous task. Take a moment and consider this: Moses, his teacher, had already passed away. Joshua had to singlehandedly lead almost two million Israelites into the Promised Land. That would be most intimating, don’t you think? Almost two million Israelites.
The reason why Joshua was able to press on and accomplish this enormous task was the fact that at the very onset God promised Him. Joshua 1 verse 5. This is what God said to him: “There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” My friends, throughout the Bible God has promised the believers that He will always be with them. God says in Isaiah 46 verse 10: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Matthew 28 verse 20 tells us that as we go out there to preach the Gospel an teach the Word of God, God promises us: “lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
There will always be struggles and difficulties in our lives, in our ministries, in our church. And the thing that will encourage us to press on and persevere and remain faithful and not give up, is this awareness of God’s presence. The other day a pastor friend of mine was interviewing one of his church members who was nominated to be a deacon. And that person said to the pastor, “Pastor, I can anticipate the troubles and difficulties I will be facing in the ministry. I can foresee those troubles. I don’t think I will be able to face all those challenges. The Pastor said to him, “Do you think God will call a person only when there is no trouble? Do you think God will only call a person when everything is smooth-sailing? And do you think God will call you into the ministry and He will not give you the strength to face all those challenges? God will always be with you.”
Some of us are serving in the children ministry, youth ministry, home-care group ministry, PA ministry and so forth. If only we understand that God will always be with us. The awareness of His presence will cause us to press on, and always remain faithful to Him. We will not give up because if God be with us, if God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:21.)
Secondly, God reminded Paul, ‘If I am with thee’, then “no man shall set on thee to hurt thee”. Those who are serving the Lord are well protected by God Himself. Why? Because God wants them to accomplish His work. He has called them to do this work. Will He not protect them? Preserve them that they may finish that work? Surely. If you look at verse 11, God wanted Paul to stay at Corinth for one and a half years. That was God’s will for him. So no one and nothing can stop Paul from accomplishing the one and a half years of ministry at Corinth.
Have you ever looked at your ministry in this perspective? Let’s say you are serving in a particular ministry and God wants you to serve in that ministry for ten years. No one and nothing can ever stop you from accomplishing the ten years of ministry. Obviously, we do not know how long God wants us to serve in a particular ministry, right? But our attitude should always be, ‘God if you want me to serve here, I will be faithful. If you allow certain circumstances and situations to happen, I am happy and willing to move on and serve You in another place. I will always be serving You.” That should be our attitude. Look at Paul: He served one and a half years at Corinth. Then when it was time for him to move, He went to Syria, and then to Cenchrea. Finally, he went to Ephesus.
Thirdly, God reminded Paul, “for I have much people in this city.” This is about the doctrine of election. In other words, there were many Corinthians who had been elected by God to eternal life, but they had not yet believed. The only way they could be saved was through the preaching of the Gospel. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God; we’re all very familiar with that. But how can they hear unless there is a preacher? And God ordained Paul to be that preacher. Paul understood that. He knew God’s sovereignty in the doctrine of election, but there was another important thing he also knew: he knew his own human responsibility.
If God has ordained many of the Corinthians to be saved, and if God has ordained me to be the preacher to bring the Gospel to them, that would a responsibility, and I must faithfully fulfil my human responsibility.
My friends, this must also be our understanding. It is not by chance nor coincidence that we are in Bethel BP Church, that you are a Sunday School teacher, a youth leader, or a home-care group leader. We do not know who the elects of God are, we do not know who are the true believers in the church, but one thing we know: if God has placed us in this church and not some other churches, then we must fulfil our responsibilities here. There’s work to be done here. God said to Paul, ‘I have many people in this city. They have not yet heard the Gospel. I’ve elected them to be saved. Now I’ve sent you to be the preacher.’ Paul had to be faithful to preach to the Corinthians.
So, three things God reminded Paul, (1) “I am with thee” (2) therefore “no man shall set on thee to hurt thee:” and (3) “I have much people in this city.” Did Paul believe and obey God? Most certainly. Look at verse 11. “And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” ‘If God promised that He will be with me, and He will protect me so that I can continue to do His work, and there are many out there who God has already elected, and my duty is to preach to them, then I will remain faithful to preach the Word of God. He did just that. One and a half years he stayed at Corinth.
II. The Blessing of God’s Deliverance (v.12-17)
Our second point is: ‘The blessing of God’s deliverance’. You know, it is so many to see how God delivers His people, because the way He delivers his people many times is in so many different ways, amazing ways. Here we are going to see how he would use an unbelieving Roman deputy or governor as an instrument to deliver His servant Paul.
Paul remained in Corinth for one and a half years. By the way, one and a half years was quite a long period of time. That is the reason why when we read 1 and 2 Corinthians, we can see the close intimate relationship between Paul and the Corinthians because he spent such a long time with them. In fact, Paul was so disappointed with the Corinthian when they believed in the false teachers and the false prophets who had falsely accused him, instead of believing in him. So throughout 1 and 2 Corinthians you can see how disappointed Paul was.
He remained in Corinth teaching the Word of God. So, it’s not difficult for us to imagine that more and more people would come to believe in the Gospel. But who would be unhappy? The unbelieving Jewish community, because if the Christians increase in their numbers, that will mean they would lose they popularity and prominence. So, day by day you can see they frustration would grow. Finally, they could not stand it any longer and they tried to use the Roman authorities to put a stop to Paul’s preaching.
Look at verse 12. “And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,” – to ‘make insurrection’ means to attack, so they gathered together and attacked Paul. Just a brief background on Gallio, the Roman deputy of Archaea. History records for us that Gallio was an intelligent person, and he was someone who hated flattery. He was also someone who had a pleasant personality. From history we learn that this man was wise in a worldly sense.
So, the unbelieving Jews brought Paul before the judgement seat of Gallio; this is the public court where the governor would judge cases. They hope to get a positive verdict from Gallio and the charge against Paul was found in verse 13. “Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law” – “contrary to the law” means against the Law of Moses, essentially contrary to Judaism. They knew that the Roman authorities had accepted Judaism to be the main religion of the Jews. So, if Christianity was a teaching outside of Judaism, outside the boundaries of Judaism, then it had to be rejected. That was their mentality, that was their thinking.
If Gallio had ruled in the Jews’ favour; let’s say that he agreed that Christianity was a cult and Christianity had to be banned, do you realise that it would not only be banned in Corinth, but also throughout the Roman Empire. It was very serious. His judgement would set a precedent that the Gospel would be able to be preached throughout the entire Roman empire. But remember, God’s command was, ‘You go from Jerusalem to preach the Gospel, to Judea, to Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the world.’ The Roman empire had an important part to play in the known world at that time. God would not allow that to happen. In His sovereignty, in His providence He could use even an unbelieving Roman governor like Gallio.
Gallio was an intelligent man. He knew the seriousness of his judgement; he knew the implications. It does not mean he was a spiritual man, but in a political sense he was intelligent, he was not foolish. That was why, you look at verse 14. “And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness,” – or wicked crimes – “O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:” Verse 15, “But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.” In other words, Gallio was saying, ‘If it is a criminal case, if there was a crime being committed, then it would be logical for me to judge it. But if it is a religious matter, if there is no crime committed, if it is just merely a matter of semantics, if it is just about words, names, about your laws, about Judaism, then you should attend to it yourself. Do not bring this matter up to me.’ That is what Gallio essentially said.
And with that, verse 16, “he drave them from the judgment seat.” It was like a smack on the face of the unbelieving Jews. Can you fathom that? Paul did not even need to say anything to defend himself. Paul did not even need to open his mouth to speak. Before he could even speak, Gallio already stopped him.
A moment ago, we just learned that God had promised Paul in a vision that He would be with him; He would no let anything happen to His servant. And now, God was showing Paul exactly what He had promised. Surely, Paul’s heart would be greatly encouraged, don’t you think?
Indeed, God could use anyone, including a Roman deputy, a Roman governor, as an instrument to deliver His servant. Sometimes God does not even need us to say anything to vindicate ourselves. He could use the very words of the adversaries to expose their own foolishness. All we need to do is just to keep quiet. As the Psalmist says, Psalm 46 verse 10, “Be still, and know that I am God”.
Verse 17, “Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.” Interestingly, it was the unbelieving Jews who raised this issue, but now it was the Greeks who took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him. Some theologians believe that the Jews were afraid to rebel against Gallio, therefore they used the unbelieving Greeks to respond. But the question is: Why did they beat up Sosthenes?
1 Corinthians 1 verse 1 tells us that there was a certain man in Corinth named Sosthenes. Let me read for you, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 1, “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother”. If this was the same Sosthenes in Acts chapter 18, the passage we are considering tonight, then it makes sense why they would beat him up: because he was a Christian. Paul says, “Sosthenes our brother”. Gallio couldn’t care less because he already said, religious matters were none of his business. Therefore, he was not concerned about all those things.
So, my friends, we have learned through these two messages how God encouraged His servant. If you have forgotten whatever I’ve said, remember these four points: (1) God encouraged His servant Paul through the blessings of new friends, Aquilla and Priscilla. (2) He encouraged His servant through new converts, Justus, Crispus and his family, and many of the Corinthians. Today we learned that (3) God encouraged His servant through the blessing of His presence. This awareness of God’s presence in our lives not only will encourage our hearts, but it will spur us to remain faithful to Him, to press on and persevere, no matter what happens. And finally (4) the blessing of God’s deliverance. God can use anyone to deliver us, including even a Roman deputy, like Gallio the deputy of Archaea. Our God is so powerful. So let our hearts be encouraged, we are serving this all-powerful God. Let us remain faithful for He will encourage us. Let us pray.
SERMON OUTLINE
THE BOOK OF ACTS30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #3: The Church and the Sacraments30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #3: The Church and the SacramentsActs 2:41-47
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #2: The Church and Fellowship30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #2: The Church and FellowshipActs 2:42
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #4: The Church and the Prayers30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #4: The Church and the PrayersActs 2:42
30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #1: The Church and The World30th Anniversary Seminar - Message #1: The Church and The WorldActs 2:42
Always Ready to Defend the FaithAlways Ready to Defend the FaithActs 6:8-15
The First ChristianThe First ChristianActs 11:19-26
Low ExpectationsLow ExpectationsActs 12:1-19
Message 5: The Church & DiscipleshipMessage 5: The Church & DiscipleshipActs 14:20-28
God Encouraged His ServantGod Encouraged His ServantActs 18:9-17
The End of the Second Missionary JourneyThe End of the Second Missionary JourneyActs 18:18-28
The Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyThe Beginning of the Third Missionary JourneyActs 19:1-7
The Riot at EphesusThe Riot at EphesusActs 19:21-41
The Characteristics of a Faithful ServantThe Characteristics of a Faithful ServantActs 20:1-6
The Lord's Day Worship ServiceThe Lord's Day Worship ServiceActs 20:7-16
The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 1)The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 1)Acts 20:17-19
The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 2)The Characteristics of the Faithful Servant (Part 2)Acts 20:20-24
A Charge to Keep (Part 1)A Charge to Keep (Part 1)Acts 20:25-28
The Believer's Conviction (Part 1)The Believer's Conviction (Part 1)Acts 21:1-6
The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)The Believer’s Conviction (Part 2)Acts 21:7-16
Paul’s Arrival At JerusalemPaul’s Arrival At JerusalemActs 21:17-26
Paul's Arrest at JerusalemPaul's Arrest at JerusalemActs 21:27-39
Paul's Response to His ArrestPaul's Response to His ArrestActs 21:40-22:21
The People’s Response to PaulThe People’s Response to PaulActs 22:22-30
Paul Stood Before the SanhedrinPaul Stood Before the SanhedrinActs 23:1-11
God's Miraculous Deliverance (Part 1)God's Miraculous Deliverance (Part 1)Acts 23:12-17
God’s Miraculous Deliverance (Part 2)God’s Miraculous Deliverance (Part 2)Acts 23:18-35
The Accusers before the Roman Governor FelixThe Accusers before the Roman Governor FelixActs 24:1-9
Paul’s Defence Before FelixPaul’s Defence Before FelixActs 24:10-21
Felix's Response to Paul's DefenceFelix's Response to Paul's DefenceActs 24:22-27
Paul’s Defence Before FestusPaul’s Defence Before FestusActs 25:1-12
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 1)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 1)Acts 25:13-27
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 2)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 2)Acts 26:1-18
Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 3)Paul Stood Before King Agrippa (Part 3)Acts 26:19-32
A Friend In Need Is A Friend IndeedA Friend In Need Is A Friend IndeedActs 27:1-12
What Can Trials Do To Us?What Can Trials Do To Us?Acts 27:13-26
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Paul's Arrival at RomePaul's Arrival at RomeActs 28:1-16
The Story Did Not End HereThe Story Did Not End HereActs 28:17-31
