- Today’s reflections from Acts chapter 18 consider three points of application – or three essential convictions that drove Paul’s passion for proclaiming Christ everywhere he went.
- Acts 18 essentially has 3 main movements: (1) Paul in Corinth (18:1-17); (2) Paul in Antioch (18:18-23); and (3) Apollos in Ephesus (18:24-28).
- While it is certainly worth your time to really meditate upon the lives of Aquila and Priscilla, a couple committed to Christ and making disciples; and the man named Apollos who boldly and faithfully served the church — as I was reading through Acts 18 these three essential convictions jumped off the pages and have really captured my heart. So…
- Today’s episode will examine these three essential convictions in Paul’s life AND consider how they can impact our own motivation in sharing the faith. They are little gems hidden throughout this chapter.
- I want to say from the outset — this is a longer video — if you need to watch this video in multiple sessions, please consider using the chapter markers to do that. HOWEVER, the three convictions that we will cover are best understood together.
Conviction 1: Reckon with Personal Responsibility
- As we discussed in chapter 17 and we see continued here in chapter 18 — Paul’s regular pattern of ministry whenever he comes to a new place is to start with going to the synagogues, then after persecution begins, he goes to the Gentiles. However, that process plays out, whether over a period of years or days, in all places, whenever he would travel, he strengthened the disciples.
- I would encourage you to really wrestle with Paul’s priority as he mentions in Colossians 1:28-28 and Ephesians 4:12-14 — that is, maturity in Christ — that the church would be grown up in Him and stable, able to stand in the midst of trials.
- As we read through the account of Paul coming to Corinth, we get a little window into why Paul operated in the way he did. In verse 6, when Paul was reasoning in the synagogues the Jews opposed and reviled Paul. Paul responds by saying, “your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles”
- Consider what he is saying! Paul sees himself as having faithfully fulfilled his God-given responsibility to proclaim, as we read in 18:5, that the Christ was Jesus. He had a responsibility. Paul had a responsibility.
- Paul’s words echo what we see in Ezekiel 33 about a man from among the people who would be God’s watchman — if the watchman sees an enemy army coming and warns the people — then someone does not respond in accordance with that warning, and that destruction comes upon him — we see in Ezekiel 33:4, “his blood shall be upon his own head.” But if the watchman does not sound the warning — the watchman must give account for the lives of the people who die due to his negligence of sounding the warning.
- Paul, then, using the very language of Ezekiel 33, is saying that he has faithfully communicated the Gospel to these people, and the responsibility of their judgment before God — their failure to believe could be attributed only to their own unbelief — not Paul failing to tell them about Jesus.
- As we saw at the end of Paul’s sermon in Acts 17, God commands everyone everywhere to turn away from their worship of things that are not God and turn to the living God. Why? Because God has fixed a day where he will judge all humanity in righteousness by Jesus Christ!
- Paul not only agrees in a passing manner with this statement, but it has gripped his soul! And he has been so gripped that if he does not tell these people about Jesus and reason with them that Jesus is in fact the fulfillment of all God’s promises of a coming anointed one, the Messiah, and by believing in Him, they would have life in His name — if Paul does not tell them of the judgment to come and the Christ who is the only deliverer — he would see it as though THEIR BLOOD WOULD BE ON HIS HEAD.
- Consider what he is saying! Paul sees himself as having faithfully fulfilled his God-given responsibility to proclaim, as we read in 18:5, that the Christ was Jesus. He had a responsibility. Paul had a responsibility.
- Paul has so reckoned with these truths that he must tell people — it wasn’t an option for him — he must! He reckoned with the personal responsibility of telling people about Jesus and that’s what we see at every opportunity.
- Friend — God has entrusted you with the Gospel. He has given you the good news. And He has entrusted people to you that you can uniquely tell about the good news of Jesus! Who are those people? Take some time today to consider this!! Who has God entrusted to you?
- Also consider the reality of our personal responsibility. Consider the different course our lives would take if we were to take on this biblical perspective…
- Hear how Paul would say it in Romans 10:13-14:
- “For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How then will they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching”
- The greek word for preaching, kerysso (key-re-so), means to proclaim or herald or announce. While the sharing of the Gospel certainly comes from pulpits — it also comes from the announcing of this Gospel to friends & family; in homes, in jails, in coffee shops, in the marketplace, at sporting events. We may not all be called to preach from pulpits, but we are all called to share the Gospel!
- The way you serve might look different from Paul’s life — but consider how Aquila and Priscilla in this very chapter served the Lord in discipling Apollos. Consider ways you can be involved in helping bring people to Christ. Remember that Paul’s work in places like Corinth took years of reasoning and proclaiming Christ – do not be discouraged if you do not see fruit immediately!
- Paul would go on in Romans to say, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). What are we sharing with those around us?
- Hear how Paul would say it in Romans 10:13-14:
- So, we do have a responsibility to share the truth with the souls that surround us. Have you considered that those around you will live for eternity? Whether it be forever in the presence of the Lord or apart from Him in eternal torment?
- Does this mean that people’s salvation depends upon us? Well, let us tease this out a bit. We must hold in tension the whole picture presented in Scripture:
- First, it is clearly THE LORD WHO SAVES! We see, as in Mark 4 and the parable of the Sower (see link above), that the seed of “the word” falls upon different types of soil and it was not the nature of the seed, but rather the nature of the soil that determined its fruitfulness. And as in Acts 16:14, it is the Lord who “opens hearts to pay attention” to the proclamation of the Gospel. And none can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them (John 6:43). And it is the Holy Spirit who convicts the world, not us (John 16:8-11). It is the Lord who saves.
- AND YET, second, HE CALLS HIS PEOPLE TO BE PART OF THE PROCESS. As we saw in Romans 10, Paul asks, “how will they hear unless someone preaches to them?” Jesus commands His disciples to then “Make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), and “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations” (Luke 24:46).
- Thus, we would say, that our job – our role – is to love people with a fierce, unyielding love — even in the face of hardship and personal attacks… and to share the truth of the Gospel with them. We DO have a responsibility to tell people about the Gospel. But what is not our responsibility? If they receive the truth… ours it to proclaim it faithfully, truthfully, boldly, and in love.
- The Lord is the one who saves — it is He who draws and opens hearts — it is He who convicts of sin, righteousness, and judgment — it is He who sends His people to share the truth. But our Lord does graciously use “means” — He invites us to participate, to be part of this process in bringing the Good News of salvation to the world.
- Where, then, and to whom are you bringing this Good News?
- This is not a call to “guilt driven” evangelism. Rather it is a call to live in light of the truths we profess and to genuinely love those around us — to love them with the patient love of our loving Savior who — for years endured our stoney, rebellious heart and continued to bring truth to our ears until one day we heard and believed — our loving Savior who gave himself for us, even while we were His enemy!
- I know that this first Essential Conviction took some time to develop, but it is a concept that may be very foreign to most of us… Also, when I was going through this chapter, it was profoundly upon my heart! The next two Essential Convictions will not take quite as long to develop.
Conviction 2: Realize His Real Presence
- Shortly after Paul experiences the hostility of the Jews in Corinth, he leaves the synagogue and where do you suppose he goes? Across town? Wait, no, Acts 18:7 says that he went next door to the synagogue! Many of the people in Corinth who heard Paul believed and were baptized (18:8).
- Then, one night in a vision, we see the Lord strengthen Paul — the Lord says, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 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.”
- It was not that long ago that he was in Philippi and was stripped naked and beaten by rods (see episode on Acts 16); or that they were chased out of Thessalonica and Berea by an angry mob (Acts 17). What would happen here? Even Paul — who seems to be an unshakable, unyielding, tank of a man — he experienced fears. Why else would the Lord tell him not to fear?
- Whereas other places where Paul had been, it would be but a matter of weeks before he would be chased out or beaten or stoned — unique to this occasion in Corinth, no attacked or harmed him. And the result was that he stayed for 1.5 years teaching the Word of God among them!
- Why would this be the case? Certainly, the words of the Lord Jesus “I AM WITH YOU” had significant part to play. Paul was convinced, not that he necessarily failed to do so before, but here is reminded, encouraged, strengthened by the Lord with this promise – “I AM WITH YOU.”
- Friend, there are many fears that we face when we share our faith. I would be lying to you if I said “I don’t feel any fear when it comes to sharing my faith.” But two truths anchor my soul to the rock of God – and I do not always live these out, but I strive to:
- (1) as Jesus implied from his words in Matthew 10:28, I fear God rather than fearing man;
- and (2) I take serious and cling to the promise that Jesus’ very real presence is with me
- If we were to review these two truths on a daily basis! What bold lions would we be in this world!
- Friend, there are many fears that we face when we share our faith. I would be lying to you if I said “I don’t feel any fear when it comes to sharing my faith.” But two truths anchor my soul to the rock of God – and I do not always live these out, but I strive to:
- This promise that the Lord will be with His people is the source of courage and strength through the Scriptures! I encourage you to take time and meditate upon these verses later:
- Genesis 28:15
- Exodus 3:12
- Joshua 1:5-9
- 1 Chronicles 28:20
- Jeremiah 1:8
- Matthew 28:20
- Hebrews 13:5
- When you realize something of who God is — then realize He has promised His very real presence to be with us, we have no reason to fear. Does that mean that there will be NO NEGATIVE consequences in this world when we share our faith? Absolutely not — we need only consider Paul’s life and the suffering he endured.
- But when we realize that He is with us, with us not only to strengthen us for the task before us, but also with us through the fire — it creates a boldness in you that, by HIS grace, cannot be conquered!
Conviction 3: Rest in His Sovereign Will
- As Paul passed through Ephesus, “he went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews” (18:19). The Ephesians asked him to stay longer, but Paul declined, and when he left them, he said, “I will return to you if God wills.”
- This short phrase encapsulates a tremendous lesson from which we can pull 3 truths:
- (1) The first truth, Paul makes plans, has desires, and genuinely works to see them accomplished.
- This is not some passive, deterministic approach to life. Paul labors with all his might and reasons for weeks with people that they might see the Gospel. He goes all in!
- (2) The second truth, Paul subjects those plans and desires to God’s sovereign will.
- God’s hands ultimately hold Paul’s plans — and it will be His hands that open or close doors. Remember Paul’s journey to Macedonia! Initially Paul planned to just retrace his steps from the first missionary journey. He wanted to enter Asia and the Spirit closed the door. He wanted to enter Bithynia, and the Spirit closed the door. The Lord directed Paul’s steps.
- Furthermore, just as Paul had experienced unexpected hardships (like beatings and imprisonments), so the certainty of Paul accomplishing his plans in his way is rather minimal — thus, Paul plans and prays and submits those plans, subjects himself to God’s sovereign will.
- (3) The third truth, the presence of (a) responsibility of Paul to act and (b) God’s will working in ways we do not understand — these two things are not mutually exclusive. That is to say, they can both exist simultaneously.
- So, while we know that it is God who saves – we also know that we have responsibility to act — and we experience the decision whether to obey or not.
- While Paul desired to return to Ephesus, he rested in the Sovereign hand of the God who called him to be a minister of the Gospel — the same God who gave him the responsibility of proclaiming the truth would be the same God who would guide and open doors of opportunity. We too, then can also rest in knowing that God’s sovereign hand will guide our steps… even when those steps lead to suffering as we saw in Acts 16.
- (1) The first truth, Paul makes plans, has desires, and genuinely works to see them accomplished.
- We see this same attitude in 1 Corinthians 4:19 when Paul writes, “I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills” — and in James 4:13-17 where James reminds his audience that we do not know what tomorrow holds and our life is a mist that appears for a little time, and then vanishes. We ought not make great boasts about our plans then, instead we ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:15).
- When we understand this perspective — that we work and labor, but our every moment is subjected to the will of the Lord — when interruptions occur, they will not sting quite as bad. In fact, when the Lord does close doors, it gives us the opportunity to rejoice that we are walking in the way the Lord desires.
- And if our greatest longing is to walk with and follow our Lord, as much as we desire and want something — that thing will not be as sweet as following our good and gracious Shepherd.
- My friend, rest in His Sovereign will!
Conclusion & Application:
- So my friend — there it is — three essential convictions for sharing the faith! I hope that these things have encouraged and challenged you in the same way that the Lord used them to challenge and encourage me!
- I know that this episode has been longer than our norm. However, I as I read through Acts 18, these things gripped my heart and I could not help but share some of the ways that the Lord gently reminded me of these truths.
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