A Study of Acts: Paul Preaches in Corinth, A Vision From the Lord
Acts 18:5-11 - The Lord is with us and we should no longer be afraid.
“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. 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 Justus, 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. 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.”
Acts 18:5-11 NASB1995
Paul is probably very relieved when Silas and Timothy arrive in Corinth from Macedonia. They most likely had funding from the new churches and were able to take on the some of the load of evangelization. Paul can set aside making tents and spend full time solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. This does not go well and I think he is finally fed up with the obstinacy and outright blasphemy coming from so many in the various synagogues he has visited. He has tried and tried and tried and had some success, but is probably disappointed that so many more of his fellow Jews refuse to see the truth.
Paul shakes out his garments and says to them “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” This is a very powerful rebuke, both in the gesture (shaking out his garments, like removing blasphemous dust from his body) and in the words he uses. I like this commentary from Precept Austin from both Alexander Maclaren and the author of this great collection of scholarly words:
“It is a great part of Christian wisdom in evangelical work to recognize the right time to give up efforts which have been fruitless. Much strength is wasted and many hearts depressed by obstinate continuance in such methods or on such fields as have cost much effort and yielded no fruit. We often call it faith, when it is only pride, which prevents the acknowledgment of failure.” One is reminded of Jesus' command in the Sermon on the Mount...
“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.(Mt 7:6)
Comment - Jesus gives us His principle which governs how one handles the Gospel in the face of those who hate the truth. And as they always do, Jesus' prophetic words were fulfilled in Acts 18:12!
Being a self-confessed completely ineffective evangelist (despite taking classes), I often wonder how long I would push it with someone I knew or loved before shaking the dirt off my garments and moving on. I think many of us feel guilt or shame that we were unable to convince someone of the truth of the Gospel and we continue in our own pride to try and reason with them when reasoning is locked out. Pretty soon your voice is locked out, too, and that friend or loved one disappears from your life in their anger. They have heard the words of salvation, but only the Holy Spirit can lead them to drink the water of Eternal Life.
Interestingly, Steve and I had no persistent human evangelist coming after us to bring us back in the fold. My Mom tried, but mostly cried about where we were as humanists and I was not going to listen to her (sadly). I can point to a few supernatural events that were obviously from the Lord and have written about some of those for this devotional. Even when our own efforts fail to give our testimony in the immediate sense, sometimes the result can be a success in the long run, so keep praying!
Paul goes to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshipper of God. According to commentary, Luke does not mention that Paul enters the synagogue again in Corinth in the next 18 months while he is there. Titius Justus just happens to live right next to the synagogue, however, so the congregation passes by Paul every Sabbath (or more often)! And lo and behold, the leader of the synagogue, Crispus, became a believer, along with everyone in his household! This had to be unbelievable to those who followed Crispus in the synagogue. They invoked Paul’s wrath but the message got through to their leader; the passage also notes that many Corinthians were believing and being baptized.
Paul must have felt the heat pretty badly from the Jews because he receives a vision from the Lord during a night after these events. He probably had fear, which is a normal reaction to having your life threatened over and over again, no matter how much faith you have. The Lord tells Paul to not be afraid any longer but to continue to speak and not be silent. I like this short commentary from Jack Andrews quoted in Precept Austin:
Paul had already been stoned and thought to be dead in Lystra—He had already been beaten with rods and imprisoned in Philippi—He had already been threatened and run out of town in Thessalonica and Berea. He was not immune to persecution and trials, but we also note that he was not immune to fear and trepidation. The Lord commanded His servant not to fear, but to speak the Word of God and not be silent. Every preacher needs to hear this command and heed this command. Every Sunday school teacher, evangelist, and witness must not fear man, but be faithful to the Master.
Verse 10 of these words from the Lord is worth repeating: for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city. God is with Paul as He will be with Him. He promises that no man will attack him to harm him in Corinth, for God has many people in this city, which means the Gospel is spreading rapidly! Suffering (and perhaps fear) is the price we pay for spreading the Word and working for Him. It may not be physical suffering. It may be an inconvenience or having to deal with annoying comments or vitriol. It may be prioritizing the work for Him over leisure. I just have to share these words from John Piper on this passage, which is encouraging to me:
What’s lacking in the sufferings of Christ today is a personal presentation on behalf of Christ to those for whom he died. A personal presentation of suffering to those of to whom he died and Paul says, “That’s my job.” In my sufferings, I complete what is lacking in Christ’s inflictions by making a personal presentation of suffering to those for whom he died. And you’re called to do that.
I heard Oswald Sanders, a great missionary statesman, before he died a couple years ago say a great thing. I snuck into a Chapel at Trinity Seminary to hear him preach, because I admired him so much, and he was 89 years old at the time and he hadn’t quit. He had written a book a year since he was seventy and I said, “All right, yeah! Seventy, what a great time to start a ministry! Go for it retired folks! Start a ministry at seventy!”
I mean that. America has sold older people one rotten bill of goods the AARP sends me a piece of mail every week. I’m 51, and they want me to buy this glossy magazine and you know fight for the rights of old people to rot while they play! What an asinine way to get ready to meet the King. [my emphasis added]
Well, Oswald Sanders at 89 was telling stories about missionaries, and he told the story about an Indian missionary, a poor evangelist who walked all day. Up to a high village unreached and his feet were bloodied. He was exhausted. He wanted to just rest before he went in the village to try to preach, but he just felt a sense of God-given urgency and so he walks into the village and he declares of Christ that he loved in a simple way and they scorned him and ran him out of town.
And discouraged and weary he lays down under a tree and fell asleep, and just at dust he awoke suddenly an all the people were huddled over him and he thought I’m a goner here, they’re going to hurt me or kill me. And the headman of the village leaned over him and said, “We came out to see you and when we saw your bloodied feet we knew you were a Holy man and wanted very much for us to hear this message and we would like you to come in and say it again. And many believe it.”
And the point was of course, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good tidings, but really the point is Colossians 1:24, “in my sufferings I complete what is lacking in the inflictions of Christ.” In that my sufferings are a personal presentation to the world of what Christ offers them. In my sufferings, they are to see Christ’s sufferings. In my martyrdom, they are to see Christ’s martyrdom. The price will be suffering.
Wow! Very compelling testimony! When I was thinking about retirement, I made a list of things that I would do to not “rot” in place. I just found that list and I have done a few of those things, but some have been surprises to me, although writing was at the top of the list. I have enjoyed writing every devotional that I have done, although sometimes there are intervening things that threaten to get in the way, but I could never call that suffering. I do have to say that on Monday night of this week I was hit with the Norovirus (stomach flu) and had no way to write or really do anything worthwhile when I was spending many hours in the bathroom (TMI?). Fortunately, my devotional for yesterday (12/11) was written before I got hit with the nasty bug! Something compels us to keep going and I think I was prodded to write that one early.
I think all I have to do is go read this sermon by John Piper again to find the reasons for bringing my Bible studies to others in the hopes that they suddenly want to hear more about the message (unfortunately, Steve and I may be preaching to the choir most of the time). You never know, though, if something gets shared or a casual reader on Substack happens to stumble upon our writings. Steve posts our devotionals on many social media platforms, so that may beckon to someone who is looking for answers. I want to share a little bit more from that Piper sermon about the joy we can receive if we tread lightly in this world:
oh Christian, we have a better possession and an abiding one. God. And Heaven. Forever. Psalm 16:11 captures those two words, better and abiding. You know that verse? You love it like I love it? “Thou has showed me the path of life, in thy presence.”
We’re not talking streets of gold. We’re not talking even reunion with my dear mother. We’re talking God’s presence. “Thou has showed me the path of life in thy presence is fullness of joy of thy right hand are pleasures forevermore.” It’s better, it’s full, and it’s abiding forever. That’s what this author was talking about.
“God’s got a number of martyrs, and they’re not done yet.”
A better possession and an abiding one. A full joy and an everlasting joy. And you can’t get it anywhere else and every advertisement between the Bulls and Jazz game this very moment is telling you the opposite and I’m glad you’re here.
The more TV you watch the more you will be numbed out in your spiritual capacity to believe that dying is gain and the plundering of your property in the cause of love to bring Christ to world is gain, and therefore I plead with you turn it off and look to Jesus.
It’s not the only strategy but we haven’t had a TV in our home for 28 years and I raised five kids, and the four who are old enough to care never missed it and all of them have pursued missions in one form or another and they are now walking with Jesus and they know the street because I live on the street. I don’t need the television to show me sin. We live in the middle of sin.
The promise is sure. The price is suffering. And the prize is satisfying. Get to know the prize.
We have competing mind plunderers now with social media, games, email and a vast array of internet sites (John Piper wrote this in 1997). Like television, they can be tools for learning or complete time-wasters that lead to mindless inertia. Worse, they can be a siren call to the most egregious of sins and bad behaviors. My day certainly isn’t perfect and I spend way too much time doing trivial things and looking after my comfort, so it is of utmost important to always be looking to the prize.
Back to our passage: Paul ends up staying for 18 months in Corinth, preaching the word. My next devotional examines Acts 18:12-17 - The Jews bring a complaint before Gallio, the Proconsul of Achaia.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord: Today I pray this short prayer that found in Precept Austin: O Lord, may the Good News become like a "burning fire" in my bones, to the point I grow weary of not speaking to those around me about the free gift of God of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 12/12/2024 to review commentary for Acts 18:5-11.
John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary. For more than thirty years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis. He is author of more than fifty books, and his sermons, articles, books, and more are available free of charge at desiringGod.org.
By John Piper. © Desiring God Foundation. Source: desiringGod.org