People in Need
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A. Rapport for the time
“Whether he lives, or whether he dies, whether he has health, or whatever he has sickness, whether he is rich, or whether he is poor, whether he pleases man, or whether he give offence, whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish, whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise, whether he hounour, or whether he gets shame, for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God’s Glory.
Paul—Since coming to Europe, he had suffered a terrible beating in Philippi, civil rejection in Thessalonica and Berea, and indifference in Athens.
B. Reading of the text
C. Review of the text
D. Relevance of the text
Ultimately Paul understood that there was a world full of people in need and that God would put him in the correct places to serve him well.
Paul understood that he was a servant of the most high God.
VS....
I. Friendship found in Corinth
I. Friendship found in Corinth
1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,
3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.
4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
Paul went to Thessalonica, Berea, and to Athens in chapter 17. He saw some believe and other who wanted no part of him and even came after him during this second missionary journey.
32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
33 So Paul went out from their midst.
Paul leaves out from Athens to go to Corinth which is about 50 west of Athens and a major city. Corinth is a port city and a major part of getting goods from East to West during the time. That meant a lot of people would come and go in the city and it had a bad reputation. We would call it the Las Vegas of the time with immorality rampant.
Athens was full of false gods but the city of Corinth is not entirely better. Corinth had the temple of Aphrodite, goddess of love, which sat upon the 1,900 foot hill that dominated the city from its perimeter. Inside the city wall stood the temple of the sun god Apollo, the patron god of the city. Excavations have uncovered another temple to Asklepius, the Greek god of healing just inside the city walls.
Pictures of these? for context?
vs. 2-4 is interesting because it sets the time table for what we know about Paul and this second missionary journey. Claudius expelled all the Jews in 49 AD meaning Paul is in Corinth around this time shortly after.
Another really neat thing is that this also speaks to a church in Rome already because Priscilla and Aquila although Jewish are Christian converts when Paul meets them and they become friends. The friendship between them will endure.
3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,
4 who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well.
19 The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.
19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.
This couple would invest in the ministry of Paul and work along side him for the progress of the Gospel.
Luke informs us that they are tentmakers which could also have been leatherworkers—which most tents are made out of at this time. The Lord had given Paul the ability to learn a trade but it was to help in the support of His ministry. He mentions it in his letters.
12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure;
9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
7 Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge?
4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
Paul would spend time in the synagogues on the Sabbath…persuading—Cause to do something through reasoning. Paul is continually going to the synagogues showing that he has been sent to the gentiles but that he also desire to share the good news of the Gospel with Jewish people who have heard the OT and should be able to follow his line of thought about the Messiah. We have seen Luke speak about the Greek people that are around the synagogue and we have look at these that are called God Fearers. They sought the truth from the one true God and Paul has been sent by the Lord to help these people come to saving faith.
vs. 5 by the time Silas and Timothy arrive Paul is in full swing having been working with his new friends and now is spending time sharing the Gospel that others may know the truth of the risen savior and Lord Jesus Christ. I am continually amazed at the persistence of Paul to be led by the Lord from town to town by the Spirit of God to accomplish what God has for him.
T.S.
II. Opposition to the message
II. Opposition to the message
6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.
Paul comes to a breaking point again now in Corinth just like he had in Thessalonica and many other towns along the way. They oppose him and revile him once again..but he makes a statement this time.
14 And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.
15 Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
16 “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
Notice Jesus does not tell Paul or the disciples to be in fear or to fret over how people might oppose or revile you. In fact, he tells them that this will happen and how to handle the situation.
7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.
(Gaius Titius Justus—Romans usually had three names..Greek, Roman, Latin?) Now I have to admit the end of verse 7 made me laugh a little. Here Paul is in the synagogue declaring the goodness of God and people mock him and don’t believe so he shakes it off and leaves them behind to go....next door. Long trip.
This is another relationship in Corinth that comes up in other passages from Paul
23 Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
App: (Paul’s life is not an easy life but it is one that is being used for the Kingdom of God. Speaks to how we are to be used for God in our journey and see ourselves as servants of the King. Not everyone will believe but Jesus is established in our hearts that some may come to know him.
III. Lord guides Paul to Stay
III. Lord guides Paul to Stay
8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Look what happens in the synagogue! Crispus the ruler of the synagogue and his entire house Believe…Oh wow....what a work by our Lord…Think of the miles and the persecution that Paul had experienced to get him to this place.
Vision to Paul—3rd of 6 visions given to Paul..
The Book of Acts: A Commentary Crispus’s Headline Conversion
Crispus’s conversion may have been an illustration of the outworking of a statement that Paul makes later when he writes to the Gentile believers in Rome: “For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them” (Rom. 11:13–14). In Corinth, when Paul moved out and began speaking directly to Gentiles, a prominent fellow Jew and his family were apparently “provoked to jealousy” and then saved.
13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
14 in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Gentiles conversion opened the eyes of the Jewish people to the truth of the Gospel. Oh what God may use in the life of those that he draws unto himself.
9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
The Lord gives Paul this vision and directs him:
He was to keep preaching
The attacks being planned would not hurt him
There would be much fruit for his ministry in Corinth.
Paul would spend 1 1/2 in Corinth..much longer than he was able to stay at the other locations on this trip. He actually used the time to write to the church at Thessalonica while he was in Corinth.