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Good morning friends on this Thursday May 30.
Our chapter today is Acts 18 , and another very significant piece in the story of the miracle of the growth & geographical spread of the Jesus movement in the years following His return to heaven.
Paul must have left Athens with his adrenalin pumping after having discussed the Gospel with the great philosophers and teachers in the Areogapus. Few had that opportunity and very few were invited to return, as Paul was, after a first attempt.
Perhaps that is why he set his sights next on what would be the Las Vegas of our day, Corinth. While it is true Corinth was a major business city, it was also well known as a place of wild immorality and reckless living. A temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and war, was built there and a ‘red light district’ surrounded the temple.
You’ll notice Paul meets a special couple named Aquila & Priscilla, newcomers to Corinth, having been expelled from Rome by an ethnic-cleansing decree of the emperor. Do you see it was their profession, tent-making, which drew them together.
You’ve perhaps heard the phrase ‘tent maker missionaries’. Here is where that comes from. Paul was a missionary, but he used his profession of tent-making to earn needed cash for living and doing ministry. If his resources ran low, he’d set up shop and make a few tents, since there was always a market and raw materials were available most anywhere.
You’ll notice Timothy & Silas rejoin Paul, and we presume Luke, in Corinth. Can you trace back in chapter 17 to see where Timothy & Silas had stayed, as Paul moved on?
We’ve seen the pattern before with Paul… arriving in a new city he searches for the Synagogue, presents his credentials and starts to preach from his Rabbinical training, and then shows how Jesus is the Christ, the long awaited Jewish Messiah. In Corinth, Paul received much the same response he’d received in other Synagogues, and thus his strong statement: “From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (18:6)
In Acts 18:10 Paul has a vision and Jesus encourages him to press on in Corinth, despite the opposition. Notice in the vision God says to Paul “I have many people in this city.” What do you suppose that means?
May I suggest it means what Jesus had said in John 6:44 “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them…”. God the Father, through the power of His Holy Spirit at work in Corinth, was giving people a hunger for Jesus and His truth. God was promising that, as Paul would preach, these people in whom the Holy Spirit was working, would respond…and they did. That’s why vs. 11 tells us Paul stayed in Corinth 18 months, planting a church among the ‘seekers’ and making disciples of Jesus.
From vs. 18-23 we find a rapid fire description of Paul going to three more important cities: Ephesus, Caesarea, and Antioch, but he stayed only briefly in each. He will return to these places in the future.
Then Paul continued back into Galatia, where we presume he re-visit churches he’d planted on his first trip, some years before. Once again Paul left Timothy & Silas behind, this time in Corinth, to continue discipling those in the young church Paul had planted, as he pressed on taking the Gospel to new places.
You’ll notice Paul took Aquila & Priscilla to Ephesus where he preached briefly and he left them there to continue sharing the Gospel and disciple those who respond. When we first met this couple they were Jews expelled from Rome. We can presume they have now become Christ followers and well enough taught by Paul that he feels confident leaving them to continue teaching other in Ephesus, as he left Timothy & Silas in Corinth. Do you see his pattern of spiritual reproduction? This is what he meant many years later when he wrote to Timothy these words “The things you’ve heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men, who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2) I call that “4-Gen disciple-making”. Can you count the four spiritual generations in that statement? Look closely at your church… how is this happening there?
You’ll notice Paul took Aquila & Priscilla to Ephesus where he preached briefly and he left them there to continue sharing the Gospel and disciple those who respond. When we first met this couple they were Jews expelled from Rome. We can presume they have now become Christ followers and well enough taught by Paul that he feels confident leaving them to continue teaching other in Ephesus, as he left Timothy & Silas in Corinth. Do you see his pattern of spiritual reproduction? This is what he meant many years later when he wrote to Timothy these words “The things you’ve heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable men, who will also be qualified to teach others.” (2 Tim. 2:2) I call that “4-Gen disciple-making”. Can you count the four spiritual generations in that statement? Look closely at your church… how is this happening there?
In vs. 24-26 we see WHY it was so important for Paul to leave his disciples in towns for further teaching, as he kept moving on. Apollos is described as “a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures…and he taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John the Baptist.“ Remember ‘the Scriptures’ would be only the Old Testament, since the New Testament was just beginning to be written. And if you’ll look ahead a few verses into Acts 19:4, you’ll see Paul’s description of John’s Baptism.
Notice what Aquila & Priscilla did with Apollos… that was why Paul had left them in Ephesus. It was important someone could make sure the clear, truthful Gospel was continuing to be taught in Paul’s absence. Again remember, they had no Bibles to cross-check what Apollos or anyone else was teaching. May I invite you to think about your church for a moment? Is the Word of God preached and taught clearly? Are there several who know God’s Word well enough to call to account and correct anyone who might, like Apollos, be only partially correct in their teaching?
And finally, look at the final verse of chapter 18 and consider your church. When someone who is perhaps a bit off in their understanding of Scripture is corrected, how do they respond? It appears Apollos humbly received well the clarifying help from Aquila & Priscilla, because he was highly recommended and “he vigorously refuted the Jews, in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” (vs. 28).
Now I hope you can read chapter 18 with fresh understanding and be amazed, as I am, at Paul’s strategy of disciple-making in so many places.
Have a great day friends…
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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