The Acts of the Apostles 69

Subtitle: The Gospel Goes to Corinth

Acts 18:1-11.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 23, 2024.

We continue our look at the Apostle Paul on his Second Missionary Journey.  At the end of chapter 17, Paul had ministered in Athens, where there were some who believed.  However, Paul then left Athens and went to Corinth. 

We have two letters written by Paul to the church that he started there in Corinth (1^st and 2^nd Corinthians).

It would be helpful to bear in mind the tension between the good response to the Gospel in Corinth and the sinful culture that was still impacting these believers later when Paul writes to them.  Following Jesus is a new way of life in which we are transformed from a person who is animated by self to a person who is led by the Spirit of God to live like Jesus.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla (v. 1-3)

When Paul arrives in Corinth, we are told that he finds a couple named Aquila and Priscilla.  Aquila is a Jew who was born in Pontus on the south side of the Black Sea.  Though it is not stated, it seems apparent that Priscilla is not a Jew.  They had come from Rome to work in Corinth as tentmakers.  This has led some scholars to make the connection that her name is a diminutive form of an important family in Rome called the Prisca Family.  This may explain why her name is put first 50 percent of the time when they are mentioned in the Bible (3 of the 6 times).  This was not normal and points to something being important about her.

We should also note that it tells us why they left Rome.  Claudius Caesar had issued a decree for all Jews to leave Rome.  This is attested by the Roman historian, Suetonius.  He lived from 69 AD to 122 AD.  He mentions that they were kicked out of the city because of riots over a man named Chrestus.  It is clear that this is talking about Christ (Greek is Christos).  Though it is tough to nail down exactly what year this decree was given, it would have been around 49 AD ( 1 or 2 years earlier than our story).

Paul made fast friends with these two.  They were tentmakers like him and Aquila was a Jew like him.  Paul was having to work and minister at the same time, so they were a perfect help for him.

Luke’s account is unclear when they became Christians.  In fact, it is quite possible that they were already Christians.  It has been 20 some years since the death and resurrection of Jesus.  News travelled fast and Rome was the capital of the empire.  We also know that the Jews were kicked out of Rome for rioting over a man named Chrestus (Christ).  Regardless, they not only become fast friends, but also fellow-workers in the sharing the Gospel.

It is important that people put their faith in Christ, and that is what an evangelist focuses on.  However, the Lord sometimes connects us with people who can help us in the ministry.  It is important to be led by Christ and to work with others who are led by Christ in this mission to take the Gospel to the world.  Jesus is the Anointed One of God to save the world from its sins and from the destruction we are hurtling towards.

Paul’s ministry in the synagogue (v. 4-6)

As was his pattern, we see Paul focusing on the synagogue first.  It would actually have Jews and God-fearing Gentiles who were attached to it.  They would know the Scriptures and more readily understand what Paul was teaching.  This makes it easier to communicate the Gospel, compared to speaking to an atheist, but it doesn’t ensure that a person will believe and be saved.

This is a practical reason to start in the synagogue.  However, Paul went to the Jews first because he also had a duty to share the good news with them.  They had served as God’s people for nearly 2 millennia.  They had been waiting for Messiah to come.  Many Jews had been dispersed through the centuries.  They needed to hear that all that service had been worth it.  Messiah has come!  It would be immoral to refuse to tell them, or try to avoid them.

At some point, Silas and Timothy show up from Berea.  We are told that this allowed Paul to minister full-time, but the reason is not explained here.  This is most likely because of money supplied by the believers in Philippi.  Paul mentions such a situation in 2 Corinthians 11.  There he challenges the Corinthian church with the fact that he could have expected them to take care of him when he ministered there.  However, it was the Philippians who covered his costs while he ministered among them.

Paul’s speaking in the synagogue eventually wears out his welcome.  We are told that some of them opposed him and blasphemed him (reviled him, spoke abusively against him).  This comes to a head where Paul shakes out his clothing and makes a public declaration that he is done coming to the synagogue.  This is a cultural thing that is related to the commands of Jesus in Matthew 10:14.  There he speaks of shaking the dust off your feet when you leave a place of people who reject your service for Jesus.  It is a symbolic gesture that serves as a witness against those you spoke to.  This dust testifies that it was on my sandals as I came into your midst to share the Gospel.  It also represents that he is leaving without taking anything from them.  Here, have your dirt back.

His statement does not mean he will never try to reach Jews again, or will not go into any synagogues.  Rather, this is clearly about the synagogue in Corinth, and we can imagine that he may have done so in some other synagogues as well.  Paul will continue to reach out to Jews in new cities and go into their synagogues, as we will see next week.

Paul continues to minister in Corinth (v. 7-11)

Sometimes the plan that we are following doesn’t go the way that we had hoped.  But, that doesn’t mean that God isn’t with you, or even helping you.  If you always interpret resistance as a sign that something is out of the will of God, then you will most certainly not fulfill what God has for you to do.  Did Adam and Eve give God any resistance?  What about Jesus and his crucifixion?  Surely God was not with such a man, and yet He most definitely was.  You will run into resistance in this world.  They key is to always look to Christ and His Holy Spirit to lead you in such times.

Paul most likely took time to pray about God’s direction for the ministry.  He had been successful to convince some of the Jews, even Crispus the ruler of the synagogue.  He had also convinced some of the God-fearers.  Thus, they begin meeting at the nearby home of a new believer, Justus. 

It is at this time that Paul has a vision of Jesus. The message of Jesus has four points to it.  First, don’t be afraid, which is another way of saying, “Fear not!”  This is a theme throughout Scripture.  If we are to do God’s will, then we cannot be driven and dissuaded by fear.  It may be scary, but you don’t have to be scared of it.  It may be fearful, but you don’t have to fear it. 

Jesus is not saying this like somehow Paul (or any of us for that matter) can reach a state where he never feels fear again.  Fear is a lot like whack-a-mole.  It is going to crop up from time to time because we are still mortals in the flesh.  However, we can take hold of that fear and put it on the altar before God.  Lord, I don’t want to be a fearful man!  Help me to overcome my fears and walk out your will! 

In fact, our flesh is not just fearful of the leading of the Holy Spirit.  It is downright hostile towards the things the Spirit wants to do in us.  When you go to pray, your flesh will fight you.  It will be a battle.  It will fight you to either quit praying, or it will convince you to pray only in ways that bring you glory.  Over time, we can develop a discipline in prayer, and in taking hold of our fears.

How does a person not fear?  You look to Jesus, ask for his help, and then do what he has told you to do.  You repent quickly when you miss the mark, and then you get back to doing his will.  Jesus is greater than anything that you will ever face.  They are all under his authority and answer to him.  Of course, they are not submitted to him, but he is still their boss.

Secondly, Jesus tells Paul to speak and not be silent.  I like the positive and negative way of saying the same thing.  This is just what it takes to get our flesh to move in the direction that God wants.  Open your mouth, and cease saying nothing!  Get out there and say something.  You may feel that it falls flat and is ineffective, but at least you are doing what the Lord has said.  He will continue to lead you and help you to know what to say.

Thirdly, He tells Paul that he is with him.  It is hard on our flesh that we cannot see Jesus.  We are told that he is with us and that we are authorized by him to take the Gospel everywhere (even communist countries).  Our flesh complains that it cannot see him.  It complains that Jesus being with us by his Holy Spirit isn’t the same as him being with us physically.  Yes, its not the same.  In fact, its better!  We will learn to lean upon God better.  We learn to grow in intimacy with him much deeper.  We also develop a much stronger faith.

Lastly, Jesus tells Paul that he doesn’t have to worry about being harmed because he has many people in this city.  When the mob grabs hold of you and drags  you through the streets, it is a relief when they take you to the courtroom.  They could do much worse things, and have throughout history.  Jesus gives Paul the understanding that he doesn’t have to fear such things in Corinth.  He would have freedom to minister, if he has faith to believe Jesus.  Isn’t this so true for all of us.

It is one thing to have a vision from Jesus in the night.  However, when you wake up in the morning, you have a decision to make.  Am I going to speak and not be silent today?  We can do this same thing with church and Sunday services.  We can find it easy to sing songs, praise God, worship, and say bold things for Jesus in a church service.  However, on Monday morning, our knees go wobbly and our hands hang down and our mouths stay silent.

This is where prayer is so important.  Take time to talk to Christ about your fears and your silent mouth.  Tell him that you don’t want to be a fearful person, and ask him to help you gain your voice.  Yet, in our immaturity, we want Jesus to zap us with courage.  This isn’t how it works.  If you are fearful, then Christ has strength for you.  Yet, it will come to you little by little as you choose to obey him.

Know this.  When you feel alone, God has people all around you and all around this world.  It is amazing how you can meet another Christian, half way around the world, and still have deep and meaningful conversations with them, even though you have never met them before.  This is because we have been serving the same Jesus with the help of the same Holy Spirit!

Corinth was a very sinful place.  Yet, God had a lot of people there.  Imagine that!  He even has Caesar kick the Jews out of Rome so that Paul will have some help when he arrives.  God is always working.  He just wants us to boldly join Him in the field.

Are you in doubt about this world today?  Do you feel like the Gospel doesn’t work anymore?  We can become fearful.  But always remember this.  If God is the one telling you not to be afraid, then who is telling you to fear?  The devil has a vested interest in stirring up your fears.  He uses governments, people in authority, media, friends, and even your own flesh to cause you to fear.  Our technology even makes it easier to pump us full of fear.  Perhaps, it is time to disconnect from the purveyors of fear and open our hearts to the one who can help us to boldly work for the souls of the people around you.

Gospel in Corinth audio

The Acts of the Apostles 67

Subtitle: The Unknown God

Acts 17:16-23.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 2, 2024.

Today, our problem is not that God is unknown, but that we have not taken time to know the God who is now known.  However, in first-century Athens, the One True God was all but known to them.

Athens was full of idolatry, temples and shrines.  We are not sure who made the first idols, but we do know that false gods were part of the Tower of Babel.  The people of the earth were rebelling against the instructions of God to Noah and his sons.  They built a city and a tower called Babel, which means “gate of god” or “a god gate.”  Since they are in rebellion to the One True God’s instructions, we know they are attempting to connect with fallen “gods,” which are not really gods.

They end up being judged by Yahweh and scattered through the confusing of their languages.  He also casts them off and gives them over to those spiritual beings that they were seeking.  He then turns to Abram and proceeds to make a new nation for Himself.

Being cast off is a theme within the Old Testament.  Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden eastward.  Cain was later cast out even further east.  This is most likely the reason for the orientation of the Temple of God.  It has him seated in the temple looking to the East awaiting the return of His wayward children.  Of course, the Holy Spirit is out there working on the hearts and minds of the lost to bring them back.

It is in this environment that the nations develop false religions that involve idols and sacrifices to spiritual beings that are actually demons, and or, fallen spiritual beings.  Most likely, these are the result of the “doctrine of demons” talked about in Scripture.  False religion and idolatry is not truly religion.  It is actually a permission system that allows spiritual beings to manipulate and control the individual.  If enough people follow these systems, then they can manipulate whole cities, nations, even a whole world.  Remember this.  When Jesus came, it wasn’t just the Gentiles who were completely manipulated by these fallen spiritual beings.  Even Israel had been corrupted and harnessed to do the work of these beings.  Yet, these spiritual beings are merely creations of God who are in rebellion to Him.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Gospel comes to Athens (v. 16-21)

Paul had left Silas and Timothy in Berea and sailed 300 miles south to Athens.  It appears that he planned to wait for them.

Athens was home to the Acropolis, a raised area within Athens that had the Parthenon, a large temple to the false goddess Athena (for which the city is named).  To the northwest was a smaller, rocky hill that was called the Areopagus (Greek for Mar’s Hill).  The Areopagus was an open-air forum for the philosophers of Athens.  They would gather there to present new idea and to debate.

While Paul is waiting for Silas and Timothy, he notices the heavy idolatry and false religion that it has.  Of course, this is no surprise for a city named after a false goddess.  Yet, let’s recognize that Paul preferred to minister with other people, rather than doing so alone.  We could imagine the help of the gifts of the Holy Spirit through others.  We could also imagine the encouragement in ministry when one labors with other believers.  Still, Paul’s default is to minister in groups, as opposed to going solo.

We are told that the city was “given over to idols.”  The words give the picture of being covered in idols, or inundated with idols.  They were everywhere he looked.  There were not only temples to the various gods that were recognized by the Greeks, but there were also shrines to these gods throughout the city to enable convenience in worshiping these false gods.

We are told that Paul was “provoked” by this heavy idolatry.  He is not provoked to anger.  Perhaps, if he saw such in Jerusalem, there would be cause for righteous anger.  This is a provocation to action that would be similar to waiting for the EMTs to arrive while noticing that the wounded person is bleeding out in front of you.  You would be provoked to action.

Such spiritual provocation is an evidence of the Holy Spirit within us.  These people have been lost for centuries, even millennia.  They are in dire straits and desperately need the good news about Jesus the Christ.

Have we become so anesthetized to the sin of the world around us that it no longer provokes us to action?  Is it not a big deal to the Church anymore?  We should desire and pray for the Holy Spirit to provoke within us a heart for those who are lost.  We need to have enough of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit within us that we cannot help but be provoked to evangelism.

Thus, Paul begins preaching Jesus.  It wasn’t the ideal situation, but something had to be done.  He was alone as a human being, but the Lord Jesus was with him through the Holy Spirit.  Paul first goes to the synagogue and reasons with the Jews and the Gentile God-fearers that were there.  However, he was also going into the marketplace each day and reasoning with the people there.

I love the phrase in verse 17, “those who happened to be there.”  Have you ever just happened to be somewhere, whether for good or for bad?  Perhaps, it was just the normal day that they went to the market, or perhaps, something had happened to change the day, delay the time, etc.  Regardless, some people “just happened” to meet a man named Paul in the marketplace, and he struck up a conversation with them.  Such coincidental meetings are not by accident.  The intersection of a Spirit-filled believer’s life with the lost is never by chance.  God works through such “chance” meetings.  We need to be quick at recognizing this.

At this point, several philosophers run into Paul.  Philosophers love to talk, to hear themselves talk, and to hear new ideas.  Luke mentions two different philosophical schools that he interacted with: the Epicureans and the Stoics. 

The Epicureans were materialists who saw happiness as the highest goal in life.  Though this meant they were into the pleasures of the flesh, they also recognized that such pursuits in excess always led to diminished happiness.  Thus, they promoted a moderated pursuit of pleasures that involved self-restraint.

The Stoics are best known for their great control under pressure.  Someone could be screaming and spitting in their face, and yet, they would remain calm, cool and collected.  They valued self-control, wisdom, justice, and courage.

Luke mentions two different responses to Paul by these philosophers.  Some said, “What is this babbler trying to say?”  This is a negative response.  “Babbler” was a term that referred to a small bird that would flit around the marketplace grabbing seed and food from whatever happened to fall on the ground.  When used of a person like Paul, it pictured him as a guy who traveled around and had gathered a large amount of curious ideas from other places.  He is not an original thinker, or the adept of a particular philosophical school.  He is just like that little bird picking up whatever has happened to fall in front of him.  They are clearly dismissively putting him down.

The second response is just on the positive side of zero.  They believed him to be proclaiming some foreign gods.  Thus, they wanted to hear more of what Paul was talking about.  A marketplace is not conducive to learning about new things, so they invite Paul to the place in town where such ideas could be heard and debated, the Areopagus.

However, notice that verse 18 ends with this, “because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.”  Paul did not change his message because he was in Athens.  He doesn’t water-down the message to make it more appealing to them.  He was telling them the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

We must never lose sight that all people need to hear about Jesus.  We can debate with people on the demerits of idolatry and false religions, but more than this, they need to hear about Jesus and what he has done for them.  No matter what culture the person you address comes from, the Gospel of Jesus has a way of cutting through to the heart of them all.  The life, death and resurrection of Jesus hits home on the great questions of life that all cultures can understand, even though the noise of that culture can make it hard to hear the truth.

Paul preaches at the Areopagus (v. 19-23)

We won’t get into the meat of Paul’s sermon today.  I will leave that for next week.  However, let’s recognize that God gives Paul the opportunity to address some of the most important thinkers of Athenian society, and Paul doesn’t hold back.

If you are worried about what gives you the authority to stand up within foreign cultures and call them to believe on Jesus, then understand this.  We are authorized by Jesus who has been given all authority over the heavens and the earth.  We don’t force people as individuals, nor do we seek to use the power of government to force the masses to conversion.  No amount of force upon the flesh can change the heart of a person.  Christians are not to operate in the power of the flesh, but rather, to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul first points out their high degree of religiosity.  Cities like Athens would have temples for each of the main gods of their pantheon, along with multiple shrines throughout the city for convenience.  This would be multiplied greatly in the cities that had a long history of rich commerce, and military stability.  Paul is not really complimenting them, but they most likely took it that way, at least at first.

Instead, Paul is trying to connect with their mindset.  He had been doing some reconnaissance while waiting for Silas and Timothy.  He noticed that they were so religious that they even had an altar with the inscription, “To the Unknown God.”  Apparently, six to seven hundred years earlier, a plague had come upon the city.  The elders were perplexed at what to do.  A man named Epimenides counseled them to release a flock of sheep.  Wherever the sheep would stop, they would then be sacrificed at the nearest temple or shrine.  Of course, some of these sheep did not stop within town and went into the country.  These were then sacrificed to “the unknown god,” in the hopes that it would be accepted as a humble entreaty.  The plague came to an end, and sacrificing to “the unknown god” became a part of Athenian culture.

Paul uses this to gain a better hearing from them.  They clearly do not know about Yahweh.  Yahweh is not just the God of Israel.  He is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and everything that is within them.  He tells them that he plans to reveal who this God is that they have been ignorantly trying to worship.  Sometimes, it is better to find a place of common ground that can serve as a vehicle for gaining a hearing and delivering the truth.  We should not “find common ground” in order to dilute the Gospel.  This is not what Paul is doing.

In the end, no one can come to faith in Jesus, but by the help of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, a brute-force attack on people and their ideas is generally not effective.  It just riles up their flesh, which is already hostile to the things of the Spirit of God.  Paul is led by his love for Jesus, and the love that Jesus has for these Greeks.

There were good reasons why these Athenians didn’t know the One True God.  Their ancient fore-fathers had rebelled against Him at the Tower of Babel.  Even following their judgment, they refused to repent and wait for God’s salvation.  Rather, they cast off restraint and were led by demons into false religion and idolatry.  Later generations would be born into darkness without any true idea about how these religions had come about in the first place.  The truth of these false religions is that they are permission systems that enable spiritual beings to manipulate whole societies.

Notice verse 21.  “For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.”  We are not much different today.  Our culture is always seeking something new.  With the rise of the internet, we are able to drop into the modern equivalents of the Areopagus and hear all the latest and greatest trinkets from around the world.  In truth, we can become the babblers that the philosophers accused Paul of being.  We have become a people trapped in our sins and trapped within philosophies that do not give us the truth, but rather, give us a lie.

Instead of being a person trapped in bondage to sin and to philosophies, Jesus calls us to be a free person used by the Holy Spirit to set such slaves free.  May God strengthen our hearts to rise up courageously in this generation to share the Good News about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and what it means for our future!

Unknown God audio

The Acts of the Apostles 62

Subtitle: Faith Working through Love

Acts 16:1-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 5, 2023.

Paul and Silas have started on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, due to a disagreement between Paul and Barnabas about John Mark.

Today, we are going to look at this question.  What is the motivation behind what you do?  Two people (or more) can do the same action, but for very different reasons.  We could boil them all down to good motivations versus bad ones.  Of course, when we come to faith in Christ, we find out that Jesus isn’t content with only changing our outward actions.

Yes, he wants us to stop sinning (“Go and sin no more.”) because our sin causes pain and suffering to us and to the people in our lives.  God loves us and them too much to be content with us continuing to sin with impunity. 

Yet, if you only change the activity without changing the heart behind it, it will not be good enough.  It won’t work for very long.  Eventually, such people grow weary of “doing” good, and fall away from actions of righteousness.  So, Christ is not content to affect our activity.  He wants to change us from the inside out.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul’s second missionary journey reaches Asia Minor again (v. 1-10)

Luke’s narrative jumps to the area of Derbe and Lystra in the middle of Asia Minor (Turkey today).  In short, they are going to travel between 750 to 800 miles in these 10 verses.

It is at Lystra that Paul recognizes a young man named Timothy, and he desires Timothy to join them.  Of course, Timothy is not just “joining” a missionary group.  He  really is entering into a lifetime of ministering for Jesus.  He becomes a son in the faith to Paul a father figure.  The dynamics here are significant.  Silas is a peer of Paul’s.  He is like a brother in the Lord, similar to Barnabas.  However, young Timothy is more like a son.  He will be mentored by Paul and Silas (really by the Holy Spirit through them).  In fact, there are two books of the New Testament written by Paul as a fatherly figure to Timothy (1 and 2 Timothy).  In fact, 2 Timothy has the feel of a father telling his son to stay strong as he is about to exit this life.

From these two letters (1 and 2 Timothy), we know that Timothy’s mother and grandmother have been strong believers (2 Timothy 1:5).    His mother, Eunice, had married a Greek man who clearly was not a convert to Judaism as we will soon see.  His grandmother Lois and her daughter Eunice most likely believed in Jesus during Paul’s first missionary journey through Lystra.

By the way, we should guard against the idea that Judaism and Christianity were two separate religions.  Jesus did not come to start a new religion.  He was the Messiah, the fulfillment of all that the Law of Moses was pointing to.  The people of Israel had waited for Messiah to come for centuries.  Thus, we would not say that Lois and Eunice were saved, but that their saving faith in Yahweh to send Messiah, had now made the proper transition to faith in Yeshua, whom the Father had sent.  The early Jewish believers were simply obeying the Holy Spirit by getting up and following Jesus.

This brings up an issue.  We can be guilty of giving lip service to God’s promise of sending Jesus back again.  This was on display in Israel in the first century.  Many of them would give lip service to the idea that Messiah would come and set all things right some day.  However, most had given up faith that he would actually show up.  They had the correct doctrine, but their faith was gone in their hearts.

Yet, one day Jesus did come.  He caught most of them by surprise, or better, he caught them spiritually sleeping, spiritually intoxicated, and spiritually dead. 

They were so used to being the ones who  had the truth, that they had lost their ability to repent and follow God.  How do you exercise your ability to repent and follow the Holy Spirit, rather than resisting and rebelling against Him?

In short, you spend time seeking God in the word and in prayer.  You give him your whole heart in truth.  You seek what He is saying to you through the Holy Spirit and what He saying to you, where He is leading you.  Such a relationship will teach you to exercise faith as the Holy Spirit puts His finger on areas of your life that need to change.  If you will give yourself to this, you will find all sorts of ways that you need to repent, and every day.  You will find just how much we need His help, and, praise God, that He is giving it to us all the time, if we will receive it.

It is probably at this time that the elders of the church and Paul gather around Timothy and pray for him as is mentioned twice in Paul’s letters.  We are told that gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to him on that day, and that at least one prophecy was given regarding him.

Now, this is an important point.  They do not take for granted that they are doing God’s work and that He will just show up.  They take this moment seriously and pray over Timothy.  We should never take God’s promised help for granted.  We need to seek it, and pray for it.  What a powerful moment as they pray over this young man.  “Lord, fill him with your Spirit, and enable him to minister with Paul and Silas.  Give him courage and faith.  Give him perseverance, Lord!”  Whether Timothy was already filled with the Spirit at that time, or the Spirit came upon him for the first time, Timothy was readied to go with Paul and Silas.

On the flip side, just because God has enabled you, placed gifts within your life, and filled you with His presence, doesn’t mean that we should take His continued empowerment for granted.  In 1 Tim. 4:14, Paul tells Timothy not to “neglect” the gift that was within him, and in 2 Tim. 1:6 , he tells him to “stir up” the gift that was within him.  The gifts of God are not automatic.  I am not saying that God will withhold from us, but that we can grow stagnant in our spiritual walk.  If we are negligent and lose our passion, then stagnation creeps into our hearts and quenches the gifts of God in our life.  In fact, the greatest gift within any of us, is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  We can grieve the Holy Spirit and squelch His work in our life if we are not purposeful and intentional in prayer. 

How do we stir them up?  We do so through prayer, and prayerful study of the Word.  Also, we do so by seeking the Holy Spirit, and as He leads, exercising our faith through obedience.

We may be taken by surprise that Paul would have Timothy circumcised at this point.  He is carrying a letter from the Apostles in Jerusalem laying out the fact that circumcision is not necessary for salvation.  This may come across to some as a contradiction, but it really is not, if you look closely.

Notice that the issue in Acts 15 was about what was necessary for Gentile salvation.  The council made a clear pronouncement on this issue, but there was still some lack of specificity regarding Jews themselves. Of course, Peter made it clear that none of the Jews were saved by their law keeping, only by faith in Jesus.  Jews and Gentiles were being saved in the same way.

There is some dispute about whether Timothy is considered a Jew or not.  When a person’s parents were both Jewish, there was no question.  They were a Jews.  But, when one of the parents were not Jewish, a question could arise.  Today, Jews teach that Jewishness, or obligation to the Law, follows the mother.  If your mother is Jewish, then so are you.  However, if only your father is Jewish, you are not considered Jewish.  It is not clear evidence that the first century followed a “matrilineal” descent as opposed to a patrilineal descent (from the father).  I don’t think that it makes a difference either way.

I only bring up this issue because it begs the question.  Did the early Church expect, or teach that Jews should circumcise their children and follow the law of Moses?  Did they teach Jewish believers in Yeshua to continue to circumcise new babies?  There would most likely be some ethnic momentum in how Jewish Christians lived.  I doubt that they all started eating pork after Peter’s vision in Joppa.  It just wasn’t part of their culture.  Therefore, we are unable to determine exactly how Timothy was viewed by early Jewish Christians, but we would know how he was viewed by non-Christian Jews.

So we come back to the issue of whether or not Paul is contradicting himself.    Why would he say one thing about Gentiles and another about Timothy?  What is going on here?  As I said at the beginning, motivation is the key.  What is Paul’s motivation?  What is his concern?

Verse three tells us why Paul does this, “because of the Jews who were in that region, for they knew that his father was a Greek.”  Paul clearly wanted to minister to Jews in the region, but also knew that they would know that Timothy was not circumcised.  Most likely, Paul believes that Timothy’s status would become a distraction and get in the way of preaching the Gospel.  The Jews would be so upset by Paul having an uncircumcised Jewish person with him, that they would never get to sharing the Gospel.  Timothy would be a distraction.

I think that Galatians 5 is the best passage for settling this.  There, Paul makes clear the principle that he was following in telling some people not to be circumcised, and yet in this case, circumcising Timothy.

Galatians 5:1-6 has Paul speaking to Gentiles in Galatia (basically the area they are in here in Acts 16).  They were being persuaded by some to circumcise themselves.  In verse 2, Paul tells them that “Christ will profit you nothing [if you circumcise yourself].”  In verse 3, he tells them that if they obey this one point of the Law of Moses then they are “a debtor to keep the whole law.”  In verse 4, Paul says that they are severing themselves from Christ and falling from grace, if they do this.  These are strong words that imply that they could not be saved, if they were circumcising themselves as a necessary act.  Your faith is either in Jesus or in the works of your flesh.  You cannot have both.

You might think of Jesus as Noah’s ark.  You are either in the boat (in Jesus) trusting him for your salvation, or you are outside the boat trusting in your own ability.  However, you can’t be in the boat and not in the boat at the same time.  Faith in Jesus is the ark of the New Testament.

Yet, in verse 6, Paul gives his underlying principle, which allows him to say to one group that they cannot be saved if they circumcise themselves, and yet have Timothy be circumcised.  His principle is not, if you are Jewish, you should be circumcised.  Rather, circumcision or the lack thereof has no power to accomplish anything.  It is quite clear that he is speaking about spiritual matters here.  If you want salvation and spiritual power with God, then your circumcised status is powerless to help you.  Don’t look to that to help you.  Now, you can see why he speaks so strongly to the Galatians.  They were circumcising themselves out of the belief that it would help them with God, but it can’t.

What does have power with God?  Faith [in Jesus] expressing itself through actions of love.  This is exactly what Paul is asking Timothy to do.  Paul is not telling Timothy that he is almost saved, but only lacks being circumcised (an argument that was being made to the Gentiles by the Judaizers).  Rather, he is asking him to be circumcised out of love for the Jews that they will preach to.  It will remove an obstacle that would be hard for them to overlook.  Now, it will not be an issue, and they can focus on the Gospel.  Timothy’s motivation would be love for the Jews that they will preach to.  The Galatians improper motivation was to fulfill an act that they thought was necessary for salvation.

I should say that this is quite a big “ask” of Paul to Timothy.  Yet, love will make great sacrifices for those it loves.  May God help us to remove obstacles in our lives without sinning in order to help others hear the Gospel.  May God help us to make sacrifices of things that are not necessary for salvation, but might be necessary in order for others to be saved.

We are then told that they go through the cities delivering the decrees of the Jerusalem Council, strengthening the churches, and sharing the Gospel.  Note that it says they “increased in number daily.”

They are called to Macedonia (v. 6-10)

As they move from Lystra eastward, they pass through the provinces of Galatia and Phrygia.  At this point (unless they go south), they are at the end of the churches that Paul and Barnabas had started earlier, and towns that they had preached in.  As they reach these borders, it appears that they intend to go southwest into the province of Asia.  This is the area of Ephesus and the 7 churches of Revelation. 

We are simply told that the Holy Spirit forbid them to preach the Gospel in Asia.  The Holy Spirit can lead us by forbidding or blocking things.  We are not told exactly how they knew the Holy Spirit was forbidding them.  Such a strong term would indicate that there was some kind of prophecy, word of wisdom, or dream, etc.  Some powerful way that the Holy Spirit made His direction clear to them.

This may cause us to wonder at the idea that the Holy Spirit would forbid any one to preach the Gospel to another.  Yet, we can know by what the Bible says that it has nothing to do with God not wanting them to hear it.  We are not told the reasons, so I want to be careful here.  It is possible that God knows this area will be reached by churches later, or that Paul and company can only do so much.  Limited resources require strategy and timing.  It will be come clear that Paul and Silas were intent on traveling throughout all of Asia Minor, but God wanted them to jump the Gospel over to Greece.  Others would “backfill” ministry into the areas that Paul skipped over.

In such a case, we should recognize that it is not our place to question God.  He has His reasons and they are always righteous and for the good.  In fact, if we refuse to go where God is calling us to go, and persist in going where He has not told us to go, we will be much like Jonah.  Things will go better for you and the people you speak to when you are obeying the Spirit of God.

Paul is obedient and turns to go north into Bithynia and Pontus, but again, the Holy Spirit forbids them to go north.  Thus, they end up on the coast of Asia Minor in the city of Troas.  No doubt, they minister there, but also the question is pondered.  Where do we go now?

Let me insert at this point, that God is not stuck on any one way of leading and directing us.  He spoke to Moses like one speaks face to face with another man.  That is extremely rare.  Sometimes, He speaks to people through angels.  He can speak to us through visions and dreams, through a word of knowledge, or simply by a quiet voice in our heart.  It doesn’t matter how God leads us.  What matters is that He is the One leading.  Don’t  be fixated on needing to have God use any of these.  Simply respond to how He leads in your life.  In fact, notice that Timothy is being led by the Holy Spirit through the man Paul.

It is at this point that Paul has a vision.  In the vision, he sees a Macedonian man pleading, “Come over here and help us!”  Of course, there probably was not an actual man in Macedonia who was doing this.  But, God hears the hearts of a people.  The Holy Spirit was giving Paul a sense of what God saw in this region, a people crying out for help.

Of course, our hearts can cry out for help, but often we don’t even know what that help should look like, especially in spiritual matters.  Macedonia is northern Greece, where Alexander the Great came from.  Just as God used a vision to instruct Peter to share the Gospel with Cornelius in Caesarea, so God uses a vision to stir Paul’s heart for Greece.  This is not because God loves them more.  No, He wants all people to hear the Gospel and come to faith in Jesus.  However, Paul is mortal and cannot evangelize everyone.  The Holy Spirit is strategically leading him to spread the Gospel in a way that is more effective.

I wonder how many people and places are pleading for someone to come and help them, but no one share the Gospel with them.  You will never see it because it is a spiritual things.  And, they won’t even know that you are the answer of the cry of their heart when you first start speaking to them.  However, God sees them, and hears them.  We really need to learn to listen to God and be led by him as we share the Gospel with people.

Notice that Paul didn’t need a vision for everyone he ever shared the Gospel with.  In general, he knew that the Gospel needed to go everywhere.  He was doing God’s will in general until God needed him to do something specific.  This is where we need to trust the Lord.  If He needs to direct us, He knows how to do it.  I should not be paralyzed while waiting for a vision, when I could be doing what I know the Lord wants me to do in general.

I do think that we should develop the practice of talking with God in prayer about our evangelism plans, who we want to talk to, and when.  We should pray for the Spirit to go before us and prepare their hearts, and we should fast and pray for their response to the Gospel.  In short, it should be our faith in Jesus (and his purpose for us) working itself out through actions of love for the lost (sharing the Gospel).

Perhaps, this week, we can spend some time asking God what we can sacrifice, so that others may hear the Gospel.  May the Lord enable us by His Holy Spirit!

Faith through Love audio

Barriers to Jews Believing in Jesus

This sermon was preached on September 25, 2022 by Missionary Robert Specter of Rock of Israel Ministries.

There will not be an article on this sermon, but the audio is now available.

Barriers audio