A Blessed Earthquake

All right, we left off last Lord’s
Day in Acts chapter 18 if you would turn there again, please
Acts chapter 18 We found Paul in the midst of
his second missionary journey and actually it’s really near
the terminus the very end of that journey He set out on a
mission trip from Antioch, coursed across Southern Asia, and then
was divinely redirected to Macedonia, as you will recall. There, he
and his ministry partners, Silas and Timothy, began to plant churches,
Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and then for Paul, Athens, and
last of all, Corinth. In Acts 17, Paul leaves Silas
and Timothy in Berea to continue the ministry there. Paul travels
to Athens alone. And in chapter 18, we find Paul
beginning to labor in Corinth. Corinth, as we discovered, a
city of supreme importance in that day, destroyed and then
eventually rebuilt by Julius Caesar. It is a wealthy, bustling
city of trade and commerce. And with its twin ports in nearly
adjoining seas, it is the hub of activity for the then known
world. That made Corinth one of the
most important cities of its day and one of the wealthiest.
In addition to its energy and its beauty, the light of all
Greece as One called it, Corinth was mired in sinful indulgence. Countless historians have likened
her to Bunyan’s Vanity Fair. To spend time there, it was said,
was to take a vacation from morality. So established was this city’s
reputation for evil that to decry someone engaged in an evil lifestyle,
one only had to say that they were living like a Corinthian.
I suggested to you that you think of Corinth perhaps as Las Vegas
by the bay. So what on earth was Paul doing
here in this debauched city? It’s really only one noteworthy
suggestion to answer that. If God might cause the gospel
to flourish here in this city, given the flow of traffic, the
gospel would soon spread to every corner of the world. Now Luke’s
account proceeds to tell us there in chapter 18, verses 2 and 3,
that Paul immediately meets two new friends, Aquila and Priscilla. We’re not told how Paul found
this couple or, more importantly, whether or not they were already
believers when he met them. I gave you my opinion on the
matter. I do believe that Rather, I do
not believe that Luke presents these one-time residents of Rome
as believers, but that in time they almost certainly became
such. The other reasonable conjecture
is that Aquila and Priscilla are a married couple. Paul would
go on not only to work with these new friends in a secular employment,
making tents, They would in time become some of his closest allies
and dearest ministry partners in the ministry of the gospel.
And so I suggested to you as well that this was a providential
meeting. God arranged this meeting. Paul needed work and Aquila and
Priscilla needed the gospel. And perhaps through his working,
His relationship with them in that context, engaged with them
in their tent making business. Perhaps through that, Aquila
and Priscilla came to saving faith. But Paul wasn’t only busy
making tents with this couple. Verse four tells us that he was
also busy with the Lord’s work, preaching the gospel. Since he
was first drafted into ministry by the Lord himself, Paul’s practice
had been the same from the very beginning to preach the gospel
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. He would begin in
each city that had a synagogue to preach first to the Jews,
but also to the Gentiles, the Greeks. Often such are referred
to as proselytes, or converts to Judaism, or more subtly, lovers
of God, or, as in verse seven of this very chapter, worshipers
of God. And so Paul is laboring at tents
and at the preaching of the gospel, and suddenly there is a change,
a dramatic change. Silas and Timothy, his beloved
ministry partners, rejoined Paul in Corinth. Suddenly, without
explanation, Paul began with renewed vigor to preach the gospel. And he did so now full-time,
as opposed to his initial Sabbath-only practice. No more tent-making. We bandied about the reasons
for this sudden change last week, that perhaps it was simply the
encouraging news that Silas and Timothy brought about Thessalonica,
that the gospel had taken a firm root there, that converts were
beginning to bear the fruit of salvation. But it’s also very
likely that these fellow workers in the gospel also brought from
the churches of Macedonia a monetary gift, missionary support that
freed Paul up. Either that or Silas and Timothy
took up Paul’s place in the tent making shop in order to free
him up completely to preach. We drew some lessons. from that very brief overview
of those first five verses. That for the sake of the gospel,
first of all, we must not get complacent after great success
in ministry. Remember in Athens, he had had
some remarkable conversions. Secondly, though, we must leverage
our common ground in relationships. That’s exactly what we see in
this relationship with Aquila and Priscilla. Whether or not
they were already saved, Paul leveraged the common ground that
he had in order to preach the gospel. We must be willing to do what
is necessary. We must be willing to take a
part-time job if needed. even a full-time job in Paul’s
case. We must be faithful to share.
For the sake of the gospel, we’ve got to take the opportunities
that are given to us. And then the fifth lesson that
we took away from that section is we must seek to be unencumbered. There’s a time to get a full-time
job. There’s a time to augment your
salary and ministry. And there’s a time to break free
of that, to live by whatever means the Lord provides and to
preach the gospel. That’s what Paul did. He quit
the tents and went back to preaching full-time. And so, Paul’s ministry
in Corinth, as it begins to develop, there is suddenly a radical change
to Paul’s approach to ministry, as is so often the case. I would
suggest to you that the change that occurs is akin to a tectonic
shift, an earthquake. It’s not just a subtle adjustment
that Paul makes here, a tweaking of his methodology. I’ve been
in a few of those terrestrial roller coasters myself, real
earthquakes. They’re not fun. They’re not
only unsettling, they can be tremendously destructive. I’m
not making light of it when I suggest that Paul’s ministry shift here
is analogous to seismic activity. It’s major. But the results of
this spiritual earthquake are positive, not destructive. And so this shift for Paul is
not just a modification. This change is major. It was
prophesied as part of God’s great plan of redemption. And it will
forever change the face of the church. Would you join me in
just reading along verses six through 11? as we read about
a blessed earthquake. Verse six, 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. Then he left there and went to
the house of a man named Titius Justice, a worshiper of God,
whose house was next to the synagogue. 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 saved,
pardon me, and being baptized. 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.” And he settled there a year and six months, teaching
the Word of God among them. It’s a blessed earthquake that
we’re going to focus on this morning, earth-shattering shift
in Paul’s ministry focus. Now, I promise you, we are going
to move forward, not backward. into Acts 18, into the passage
that we just considered, but I want you to flip back to chapter
17 for just a minute. I have good reason for doing
this. In Acts 17, glance down at the very end of the chapter
there, verses 32 through 34, because Luke is basically giving
us, very succinctly, an outline of the response to Paul’s ministry.
Look at verse 32. Now, when they heard of the resurrection
from the dead, some began to sneer. There were those who rejected
the gospel outright as soon as they heard it. But others said,
we shall hear you again concerning this. There’s a second group
who hears the gospel, who defer their response to a later time.
Not an outright rejection, but certainly not a warm reception. So Paul went out of their midst,
but some men joined him and believed. There was a third group. Some
who repented of their sin and placed their faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And this same outline We see
repeated over and over again in Acts, some who reject the
gospel outright, some who defer their response to a later time,
and some who repent and believe. Turn back, if you would, briefly
to Acts 14. In Acts 14, verse 1, in Iconium,
they entered the synagogue. But the Jews, verse 2, who disbelieved
stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the
brethren. If you jump down to verse 4,
the people of that city were divided. Some sided with the
Jews and some with the apostles. Essentially the same outline.
The same thing happened in Thessalonica. Turn to chapter 17 at the beginning
of that chapter. There in Thessalonica, if you
jump down to verse four, some of them were persuaded and joined
Paul and Silas. Verse five, but the Jews, becoming
jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace,
formed a mob and set the city in the uproar. The same thing
happened in Berea, 1712. Many of them believed, but when
the Jews came, agitating and stirring up the crowds, Same
thing happened in Ephesus. Some were becoming hardened and
disobedient. The same thing happened in Rome.
Turn all the way over to Acts 28. In Acts 28, Paul is wrapping
up literally his ministry. And he says here, when they had
set a day for Paul, verse 23, they came to him at his lodging
in large numbers. He was explaining to them by
solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to
persuade them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and
the prophets from morning until evening. Some were being persuaded
by the things spoken, but others would not believe. It’s a recurring
pattern, a common experience for Paul. Some rejected the gospel
outright, some deferred their response to a later time, some
who repented and believed. But let’s look at this exact
same outline as it occurs here in Acts chapter 18. Because we can already begin
to feel the ground shaking because of it. There is a blessed earthquake
about to occur. Look, if you would, at verse
six. Now, Paul has taken his opportunity to go into the synagogue
to preach the gospel. And the first thing that Luke
records here is that there was opposition. That just like we
saw in Acts 17, some began to sneer. Look at verse six. When
they resisted and blasphemed, He shook out his garments. And
so Paul, in his faithfulness to his calling, is taking this
weekly opportunity to preach the gospel, even in the Jewish
synagogue. And what might Paul have said? What could he have preached about
that was so controversial? Would he have perhaps made his
message obscure? kind of glossed over and softened
the message due to the delicate nature of his audience. After
all, these were Jews. Would his Jewish listeners have
to put two and two together? Would they have to read between
the lines? Highly doubtful. This is the
same bold apostle that we see not only throughout the latter
half of the Book of Acts, but the same straightforward man
of God that we see in his epistles. He feared no man. He feared only
God himself. Last week I mentioned an example
of such preaching. I gave you the address for it.
Perhaps you went and read through that passage in Acts chapter
13. If you would turn back there
for just a moment, Acts chapter 13. We still can’t take the time
this morning to read the sermon in its entirety. I only want
you to catch a glimpse of this dear brother’s courage in the
face of those who could and had and would again do him much harm. This is boldness in action. In
Acts chapter 13, we find him in Pisidian Antioch, which is
distinguished from the Antioch that’s in Syria. This was in
Southern Asia. And true to form, he’s in the
synagogue on the Sabbath and he’s invited to speak. And beginning
in verse 16, we have essentially his introduction. He’s speaking
to Jews, and so he lays down a foundation replete with Jewish
history. Look at verse 17. The God of this people, Israel,
chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay
in the land of Egypt. And with an uplifted arm, he
led them out from it. for a period of about 40 years,
he put up with them in the wilderness. Now, there is no Jew who would
take issue with any of that. Paul is just reciting ancient
history. And he proceeds, as you can read
later, to remind them of how God bequeathed to them a great
land. And God gave to them judges and
prophets and kings, leaders. Ultimately, with one of the greatest
in Israel’s history, King David himself. The pride of every Jew. There’s nothing so far that Paul
has said that is even remotely controversial or objectionable. But without missing a beat, verse
23, Paul seamlessly proceeds to introduce the Lord Jesus Christ,
not as an outsider, but as one who is the descendant of David.
And he courageously declares that God has brought to us, to
Israel, a Savior, Jesus. And having introduced us to this
Savior, their promised Messiah, he goes right for their hearts.
Look, if you will, at verse 26. Brethren, sons of Abraham’s family
and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this
salvation has been sent for those who live in Jerusalem and their
rulers, neither recognizing him nor the utterances of the prophets,
which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning
him. Though they found no ground for
putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he might be executed.
When they had carried out all that was written concerning him,
they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb, but God
raised him from the dead. And for many days he appeared
to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the
very ones who are now witnesses to the people. And we preach
to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers, that God
has fulfilled this promise to our children in that he raised
up Jesus. Paul doesn’t take anything away
from the Jews. Had he stood there toe to toe
with them and said, look, you crucified the Messiah, enough
with you. It’s not what happened. He’s preaching the good news
of the gospel to them and for them. And I show you this to
illustrate the kind of preaching in which Paul was engaged. These
were not feel-good sermons. This was the brave, brash preaching
of the gospel itself, aimed at nothing else than the conversion
of souls. And this is quite evidently the
kind of preaching that Paul was doing here in Corinth. Such preaching cannot allow a
sinner to be unmoved. Either such a person will repent
or they will lash out in fury. Paul mostly received the latter. If you would, back to Acts chapter
18 and look at verse 6. Verse six, it says that his hearers
resisted and blasphemed. That doesn’t sound so bad. Why,
I’ve probably even had that response to my preaching. Not such a big
deal. Not at least on the face of it.
Please know that it isn’t that they rolled their eyes at some
of the points that he made. Or that they tapped their watch
when he was going long that day. Or that they understood his points,
but just really didn’t like his preaching style. No, they hated
what he was saying to them. They hated the idea that their
fellow Jews had effectively murdered this so-called Messiah. And they
hated the suggestion that such a Messiah could be killed in
the first place. The particular word that Luke
uses to describe their reaction indicates a vehement and coordinated
opposition. It was a group effort, like they
were lining Paul up for the firing squad. They were all against
him. To illustrate the strength of this word, let me tell you
that this is the same word that Peter uses to address insubordination
in the church. God, he says, is opposed. He resists the proud. With one mind, this synagogue
of hearers was strongly united against Paul. And yes, it gets
worse yet. Not only did they resist Paul,
they blasphemed. Now to blaspheme, you know, is
to speak of something as evil, to slander or to revile or to
malign. But the worst form of blasphemy
of all would be to speak evil of a good and holy God. And that’s
what they did. We don’t know exactly what they
said. What it was that was so shocking
to Luke to label it as blasphemy, so objectionable to Paul that
he reacted so strongly. They spoke flippantly and irreverently
about God himself. They called him down and basically
engaged in what we would call slander if it was spoken one
to another. But to speak falsely about another
person is one thing, but to speak falsely about God is quite another. Paul was filled with righteous
indignation. This was the last straw. Look
at verse 6, when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out
his garments. We don’t know exactly what it
was that was said, what was so bad that Paul used this symbolic
gesture that of all the evil that he faced, and Paul faced
some doozies, didn’t he? Of all the evils that he faced,
he employed this image only here. He shook out his garments. And I know to our Western ears,
we hear that and we say, is that the best you have, Paul? I can
tell you this, he’s not doing his laundry. I remember a long
time ago, President Bush, a long, long time ago, During the Gulf
War, he was giving some kind of a news conference, press conference,
and some individual, evidently a Muslim, stood up and they threw
a shoe at President Bush. You remember this? Some of you?
He missed. And I remember thinking, that
was odd. What a strange thing to do. Throw a shoe. That will show
him. But in the Eastern culture, throwing
a shoe at someone is one of the ugliest things that you can do
to a fellow human. It shows an utter disdain for
this person. The same thing with shaking out
one’s clothes. We might say to Paul that, is
that the strongest reaction you have to blasphemy? that this was merely a symbolic
act. It’s not as if he shook this
irritating dust in their faces. And although it was symbolic,
it was emblematic of one of the strongest possible indictments
against these haters of Christ. It said that he didn’t even want
a speck of dust from their synagogue to cling to his garments. And
lest you’re thinking here that Paul is being overly impatient
and less than gracious, Jesus basically commanded the apostles
to do this very thing. Matthew 10, 14, whoever does
not receive you nor heed your words as you go out of that house,
shake the dust off your feet. In fact, remember Paul’s sermon?
the one that we briefly reviewed in Acts 13, that message was
generally well received. So much so that they invited
him back for the following Sabbath. Word got out and there was such
a turnout that the synagogue officials became incensed with
envy. And so they stirred up the crowd
against Paul and ran them out of town. But not before Paul
would perform a very similar gesture. The only time he shook
out his clothes was in Corinth. But there in Iconium, he shook
off the dust of their feet in protest against them. Paul’s rebuke of the Jewish officials
here in Corinth was not merely symbolic. There was also a verbal
infective. Look at the passage. He said
to them, your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now
on, I will go to the Gentiles. In other words, his departure
from their midst was their fault, not his. This would have been
a well-known curse to any Jew. Joshua 2, 2 Samuel, but the one
most likely in Paul’s mind was the one recorded in Ezekiel chapter
33. Just listen. The word of the
Lord came to me saying, son of man, speak to the sons of your
people and say to them, if I bring a sword upon a land and the people
of the land take one man from among them and make him their
watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows
the trumpet and warns the people, Then he who hears the sound of
the trumpet and does not take warning, and a sword comes and
takes him away, his blood will be on his own head. He says,
look, if you’ve heard the warning and you’ve disregarded the warning,
your blood is on your own head. That’s exactly what Paul says.
Paul uses that same imagery. And he uses that same imagery
in addressing the Ephesian elders. Do you remember this? In Acts
chapter 20, he had called them to himself and testifying there
of the thorough nature of his ministry, he told them, I am
innocent of the blood of all men. I have warned you. I have
preached because I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole
purpose of God. So Paul, Paul essentially declares
here that he is done with this particular synagogue. Your blood
be on your own heads, I am clean. From now on, I will go to the
Gentiles. And now the full fury of this
earthquake begins to be felt. This could not have been easy
for Paul to do. These, after all, were his countrymen,
fellow Jews. But Paul knew that from the earliest
moment on the road to Damascus, his ultimate call was to the
Gentiles. Go, the Lord said, remember this,
for he is a chosen instrument of mine to bear my name before
the Gentiles. And the kings and the sons of
Israel. And under similar circumstances,
in that sermon of Paul that we just considered, remember in
Antioch, Acts chapter 13, Paul arrives at the same exact conclusion. He tells the Jews there, it was
necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. And I
did it. Since you repudiated, judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life. Behold, we are turning. to the
Gentiles. But now a problem suddenly presents
itself. Wherever would he teach? He only knows that he’s turning
to the Gentiles, but he doesn’t know where or how. The local synagogue had always
been his go to place, but now no longer. And immediately God
provides. So remarkable. We must persevere
in proclaiming the gospel, even in the face of rejection, even
in the face of rejection. But this earthquake, it has another
effect as well. Not only is there opposition
to the gospel, which calls us to perseverance, there is reception
of the gospel. Some men believed at the end
of Acts chapter 17, and here, likewise, God has his people. Look at verse 7. Then he left
there and he went to the house of a man named Titius Justice,
a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 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.”
Now, this is so like God, isn’t it? Don’t you just have to smile
to provide this place? Not just any Gentile’s home,
not one clear across the town. Not just any alternative place
of preaching, but right next door to the synagogue. This man,
a Gentile, and we know that not only because he has a Greek name,
but also because Luke identifies him as nothing more than a worshiper
of God, a convert. A convert first to Judaism, probably
from heathendom. He was a proselyte, not a full-born
Jew. And in God’s sovereignty, he
just happens to own the house right next to the synagogue. How utterly providential this
is. But the providence of God is only just now beginning to
reveal itself. Now in his sovereignty, he is
going to use this arrangement for his own glory. Watch this. In Romans 10, Paul is detailing
God’s providential plan, remember, in bringing the Gentiles to faith. Do you remember this? For the
purpose of provoking the nation of Israel to jealousy. Well,
that’s exactly what happens here. He does it here on a micro level.
Look at who one of the very first converts is. Verse 8 tells us
that a man named Crispus, who just happened to be the leader
of the synagogue, gets saved. Not a good week for this synagogue,
and it gets even worse because Crispus’ whole household, which
would have included not only his children and his wife, but
in-laws and parents and slaves and servants, anyone under his
roof or in his compound, They all came to saving faith. What
an amazing thing. You see, Paul didn’t close off
the Jews from salvation, otherwise he would have locked the door
as Crispus was walking up the driveway. He only went where the preaching of God could
proceed unhindered, and that just happened to be at the house
next door. What an amazing God we have.
And not only do these new believers make a solemn profession of faith,
they submit themselves immediately to the rite of baptism. And in
a deeply personal note, we later discover that Paul himself had
the very rare privilege of baptizing this man. And presumably his
whole family. Here’s how we know this. Unfortunately,
as the Corinthian church began to grow, remember, factions developed. People began to align themselves
with this or that leader. And who baptized who began to
take on a very ugly sense to it. And it was to that mindset
that Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 14, I thank God that
I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius. this very
leader of the Jewish synagogue. Well, in a small church, we know
what it’s like to lose even an individual, let alone a large
family or an entire household. And so this had to have been
a very great blow, a tectonic shift to the synagogue, but with
a great blessing. to Christ’s church, we must persevere
in proclaiming the gospel even in the face of rejection, but
we must persevere in proclaiming the gospel even in the face of
great success. There’s a third feature of this
earthquake as we look around the landscape. These dramatic
changes brought about by a response to the gospel, not only the opposition
to the gospel and reception of the gospel, But the perpetuation
of the gospel, look down at verse nine. The Lord said to Paul in the
night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer. But go on
speaking, 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. And he settled there a year and
six months. teaching the Word of God among them. This is truly
a remarkable set of verses. For any pastor, this has got
to be such a relief to read that even the Apostle Paul himself
got discouraged. He needed divine encouragement
in order to propel him forward. As shepherds, we have a tendency
to fall into a rather simplistic way of thinking that our hearers ought to be
able to hear something one time and get completely and put it
into practice flawlessly. People don’t often work that
way, if ever. Remember that third type of here
mentioned in Act 17, we shall hear you again. What an understatement
that is. Sometimes it takes us over and
over and over and over again before the message begins to
sink in, doesn’t it? It isn’t often a one shot deal
in ministry. And so we must persevere. We
must preach again and again and again if necessary. And if this
was true, even for the apostle Paul, how much more for a lesser
servant of God? Paul, even Paul, the great apostle
Paul had need of perseverance. He had need of encouragement,
even divine encouragement. Paul doesn’t seem to reveal any
sign of weakness here in this passage. No discouragement in
verses six through eight. When the Jews resisted, he shook
out his garments and as a testimony against them, he persevered. And even though he couldn’t preach
any longer in the synagogue, he kept right on preaching in
what was now effectively a home church right next door. And to
a degree, the Lord was already beginning to dispel Paul’s fears
with the fresh news just brought by Silas and Timothy from Thessalonica. Here’s how Paul is processing
that news. First Thessalonians chapter two,
just listen. You yourselves know, brethren,
that our coming to you is not in vain. But after we had already
suffered and been mistreated in Philippi, as you know, we
have the boldness in our God to speak to you the gospel of
God amid much opposition. This is not a timid man. This
is not a fearful man. Paul knows that if God had done
such a magnificent work in Thessalonica, perhaps in his mercy, he might
also do such a work here in Corinth. There’s no perceptible sign of
weakness or discouragement at all. But God knows his heart. Why do I suggest that there was
this Discouragement, even fear, because God tells us there was.
Here in verse nine, God commands Paul, do not be afraid any longer. God would not have commanded
such had it not been so of Paul. Luke doesn’t reveal this fear.
Not even Paul takes occasion to divulge it, but sometime later
he would. Remember, after he left Corinth,
he wrote back to this church twice. In his first letter, he
humbly admitted, listen to this, 1 Corinthians 2, 3, I was with
you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. That is a
remarkable admission. And from his second letter, He
acknowledges to them that fear was an attendant pest in his
ministry. This was something that was ongoing,
almost chronic. 2 Corinthians 7, 5, even when
we came to Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted
on every side, conflicts without and fears within. And so Paul
admits that there were fears. And God knows all about these
misgivings and discouragements. And rather than let this chief
servant languish, God comes along by way of a vision. I know what you’re thinking. I’m not going to suggest to you
for a moment that if you’re having a down day or a bad week or things
aren’t going all that well for you particularly that you hole
up in your room and wait for a vision. I don’t recommend it. These things were not normative
and yet in Paul’s life they were fairly regular features. Perhaps
we should have seen this coming when it basically took a divine
vision to bring Paul to knees of repentance. Remember this?
On the road to Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around
him. Likewise, last week, remember
that I briefly mentioned that a divine redirection was given
to Paul by way of a vision in Acts chapter 16. A man of Macedonia
standing and appealing to him. Come and help us. And God used
that to steer Paul and his team to go and preach the gospel in
Macedonia. You can read about other occasions
as well. There’s at least six. Acts chapter
22, verse 17, a call to Jerusalem. Acts chapter 23, verse 11, a
call to Rome. Acts chapter 27, 23, a call to stand before Caesar. And so here, when God wanted
to get this faithful brother’s attention, he spoke to him in
a vision. And the message was clear. Do
not be afraid any longer. Do not be silent, but go on speaking. Do not be silent. Paul, he says,
you need to persevere. Stop being afraid. Stop being
tentative. Stop holding back. Press on. Persevere. Be faithful to the
end. Why? What is the assurance? For I am with you. That’s enough. And it’s noteworthy that the
pronoun is emphatic here. I, even I, I, Almighty God, I,
the author and perfecter of your faith, I am on your side. The Lord is on your side. The
encouragement is intensely practical, and it points exactly to that
which haunted Paul, personal harm. Do we recall? that just about
a year or so prior to this event, Paul had been stoned and left
for dead at Iconium. I don’t know many people who
would be eager to go and endure an ordeal like that more than
once. Paul was fearful and tentative
over the physical harm that he might suffer, but God assures
him, no man. No man will attack you in order
to harm you. There will be other difficulties
ahead for Paul. More persecution, more trials,
more abuse, more stones, but not here in Corinth. Remember those really hard things that your parents used to ask
you to do. Hold your sister’s hand when
you’re crossing the street. or eating cauliflower without
that nice cheese. And they would often assure you,
right? Look, it’s not going to kill
you. Well, in like manner, that’s
what God tells Paul. Keep preaching. It’s not gonna
kill you. The church there would break
his heart to pieces many times. But he would not be run out of
town. He would not suffer physical harm. And then God appends an
astounding explanation to that one little encouragement. Glance
at it, if you would, at the end of verse 10. No man will attack
you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city. Did you get that? We can go to
dozens of different locations in Scripture to hear plainly
an articulation of the doctrine of divine election. Ephesians
1, John 3, 1 Peter 1, Romans 8. But perhaps we didn’t see
this one coming. And yet there is no other way
to explain this. Look at this. God already knows. He knows definitively who they
are who will come to saving faith long before they’re ever converted
and saved. And that’s plainly because God
in his sovereignty appointed them. He named them. He chose
them for salvation. And so God basically says to
Paul, Paul, I can’t have you getting injured on the job. Because
someone needs to call these elect individuals to saving faith.
I have many people in this city. You don’t know who they are.
That is hidden in the secret councils of Almighty God waiting
to be manifest in time. But it’s enough for you to know,
Paul, that they’re out there. They must be called. And how
will they hear without a preacher? Steal yourself, Paul. You have
a divine mandate to fulfill the solemn obligation of calling
sinners to repentance. Of which there is a guaranteed
harvest. Many people. In this city of
Corinth, what an astounding encouragement. Do not be afraid any longer.
But go on speaking and do not be silent. Don’t hold back, Paul.
Keep on preaching your heart out. Sinners will come to repentance. And with a single line, Luke rather peacefully brings
this tumultuous passage to a gentle close. Look at verse
11. And he settled there a year and six months, 18 months, teaching
the word of God among them. You see, the earthquake has passed.
And we find that rather than destruction, it has been a blessed
upheaval. Things are intact. The gospel
is going forth. And his message to us is that
we must persevere in proclaiming the gospel, even in the face
of rejection. We must persevere in proclaiming
the gospel, especially in the face of success. We must persevere
in proclaiming the gospel as long as we have opportunity. Let’s humble ourselves in prayer.
Our merciful King, we throw ourselves at your feet and we pray, Father,
that you would examine our hearts Are we timid? Are we fearful? Have we just plain given up on
the good news? Do we even consider it as such? Is there such evil in our heart
that we are content to let somebody else do our work? Lord, when we are mistreated, may we remember this passage.
that even in the face of harshness and people sneering at him, Paul
persevered. And Lord, let us not rest on
any success that we have. But Father, let us all the more
diligently that if one person in this city is called to salvation,
how many more could there be? Father, as long as you give us
breath in our lungs, an opportunity in this nation, we pray that
you would grant us the grace to be faithful to the end, to
preach, to share Christ as long as we have opportunity. We pray
all of these things in Jesus’ name, amen. As we close, if you
would say a few words.