Deception in the Last Days- 3

Subtitle: Paul's Warning I

A link to the audio can be found at the bottom of this article.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, November 1, 2026.

We are going to spend several weeks on this passage because it is so important to understanding how and why deception will be so powerful in the last days.

Let’s get started.

Paul corrects the Thessalonians on the Day of the Lord

In this chapter, Paul is correcting some errors that occurred among the believers of Thessalonica.  Many of them had been convinced that the Day of the Lord had already begun.  Of course, we see this same problem today.  Especially with the rise of the internet, it seems that someone is claiming that the Day of the Lord has begun and “the second seal was broken yesterday.”

These kinds of sensational claims are not wrong because it will never happen.  They are generally wrong because the individuals making them are not using Scripture to understand what the Day of the Lord is and what signs will point to it.

The Day of the Lord is a phrase from the Old Testament.  It focuses upon judgment that will come upon the nations by God.  This will be led by God’s Anointed One, the Christ.  It also focuses upon the resultant rule of Messiah that will follow.

This passage incorporates several phrases like the Day of the Lord.  As we encounter them, we will explain any similarities and any differences.

Paul makes it clear in these first three verses that the Day of the Lord had not begun yet.  This would be around AD 50.

Another textual point is that some versions have “The Day of Christ.”  Manuscripts that are from the area of Alexandria, Egypt generally have “the Day of the Lord,” whereas manuscripts from the area of Constantinople generally have “the Day of Christ.”  These are actually synonymous and do not change the teaching of the passage.  The apostles of Jesus taught that he was Lord, not just lord with a small “l” but LORD with all caps.  The Day of the Lord was the Day of Yahweh.  However this change happened, it was most likely in an attempt to make the clear connection.  If Day of the LORD was first, then the attempt is probably to make sure people connect this to the coming of Christ.  If the Day of Christ was first, then it is in the other direction.  We are talking about The Day spoken of by all of the Old Testament prophets.

Verse 2 tells us that they had been “shaken from their composure,” or disturbed.  The word for shaken here pictures that something is being done to them that is causing the shaking.  See Matthew 11:7 where Jesus speaks of a reed shaken by the wind.  Of course, they are shaking, being troubled, because they are not thinking correctly about the Day of the Lord.  They were taught correctly by Paul but failed to make the proper connections when others taught something different.

Paul mentions three things that seem to have been used to bring about this shaken state. He mentions a spirit may have been involved.  This could be a person claiming to have heard from an angel, or had a dream or vision of a spirit, that the Day of the Lord had begun.

He also mentions a message (some versions “a word”).  This may be reference to a prophetic message or simply an address by someone who claims to know.

Lastly, Paul mentions that a letter might have been presented to them, purporting to be from Paul and the other apostles.  This letter seems to have been used to convince them that the Day of the Lord had begun.  Of course, Paul and the other apostles wrote no such letter.  This letter would have been a forgery, precipitating Paul’s response in this letter.

It would be good to remind ourselves of Paul’s instruction to the Galatian believers.  They too were being troubled by false teachers on a different matter.  Notice what Paul told them in Galatians 1:6-9.  “6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

Paul knows that he has given them the truth of the Gospel just as he knows that he has given the Thessalonians the truth about the Day of the Lord.  He states that even if [he] or an angel from heaven were to give a different teaching to them it should be rejected.  Essentially, Paul gave them the truth the first time.  He will not change his mind, and if he did, they shouldn’t trust it.

The Thessalonians knew Paul and what he taught.  They should have recognized that something was wrong with the letter and refused to believe it.  Most likely, there were some people there who knew it couldn’t be from Paul and that is how it came to his attention.

Why might the fact that they were in the Day of the Lord surprise and disturb these Christians?  Shouldn’t they rather be excited that Jesus would soon arrive?

Paul had taught them in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 that God had not destined believers for His wrath but for obtaining salvation through Jesus Christ.  The wrath of God can be thought of as eternal death.  However, the context of 1 Thessalonians 5 is the Day of the Lord.  A time when the wrath of God is poured out upon those who reject Jesus.  Christians are not intended to be caught off guard by that day nor be subjected to it.  God has a plan for protecting Christians from His wrath.

It was easy for first century Jews to imagine the wrath of God being poured out upon the Roman empire and the Gentile nations because they were idol worshippers and persecuted God’s people.  However, imagine the wrath of God stored up today after 20 centuries of His grace coming to them in the Gospel of Jesus.

Paul’s request

In these verses, we have a simple request that is often made more confusing through our translations.  I suspect that some of this is due to theological positions influencing translation.  However, some of it is simply the result of translation.  The Church is divided on how to interpret end times prophecies like this.  I have a particular view.  I believe that Christ will rapture His Church before the Great Tribulation begins.  However, I also believe that we can love one another despite differences in interpretation, especially on the sequence and meaning of end times prophecy. 

Our protection in the future is not because of perfect interpretation.  Our protection is in the very Word of God coupled with the help of the Holy Spirit in every situation.

At a basic level, Christians can agree on one thing.  Jesus is coming back to rescue the righteous and pour out the wrath of God on the unrighteous.  He will set all things right, and believers do not need to fret as we see these things approaching.

If Jesus does not come while I am alive, even if I die as a martyr, has he failed me?  Of course not!  Paul’s whole point on this matter in both of his letters to the Thessalonians is that, whether alive or dead, Christ will resurrect all those who have believed in him.  They will come with him at the Second Coming.  Jesus will not fail us.  Yes, he may allow the wicked to put us to death, but you will not suffer the wrath that is poured out upon them.  In fact, you will join him in his great unveiling to the world.

We need to have grace with one another in this area of biblical teaching on the end times.

There are three aspects about Paul’s request that we need to make clear.  Number 1, the verb that Paul uses for “ask” is not the request of someone lesser to someone greater.  The verb is used of equals or a person who is greater talking to someone lesser.  This reminds us of the situation.  Paul is the apostle who brought the Gospel to Thessalonica.  He established the church there and taught them how to serve Christ.  Now he is asking them to do something, or in this case, not do something.

Number 2, verse 2 gives us what Paul is asking them.  He is asking that they not be shaken from a confident mental position and not fall into a resultant belief that the Day of the Lord had already come.

Historically, it has been easy to disturb people about the Day of the Lord occurring.  In times of war, pestilence, famine and eclipses, it is easy to play on people’s fear.  This was the case as AD 1000 approached.  It was the case in England as AD 1666 approached.  It was the case among some during the 2020 Covid Pandemic.  The “this-is-it!” mentality is easily caught from others.  Add on top of this forged letters from the apostles, messages from angels, or from the Holy Spirit, you could really whip people into a frenzy.

God does not want His people living in a fearful frenzy, even when faced with difficult things.  We are called to walk in the peace that He provides for those who are in His hands.  We do not need to fear the Day of the Lord.  The coming of Jesus to judge the wicked is the blessed hope of the righteous, his people.

When the Day of the Lord comes, it will not be because someone predicted it.  It will come because it is the time God has chosen, and we can trust Him.

The third thing we need to make clear about this request is found in verse one.

The NASB says, “with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him…”  Other versions have “concerning the coming…”  This gives us three phrases that have to do with the end times within these three verses: the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Gathering together to Him, and the Day of the Lord.

The Greek preposition translated as “concerning” or “regarding” gives the sense that these are the subject of the ask.  It has the effect of causing an English reader to see them as all synonymous.  This is important because, when Paul explains that something must happen before the Day of the Lord is here, we can think this applies to the coming of Jesus and our gathering together to him.  That is not what is going on here.

The preposition here is used to point to the grounds or reason for the request.  It should be translated as “on the grounds of” or “on account of.”  The KJV has “by” which is not as misleading, but it isn’t as clear either.

Essentially, Paul is asking them, on the grounds of the coming of Christ and our being gathered together to him, not to be shaken from their composure as if the Day of the Lord had begun.  Though he doesn’t explain it further, Paul sees the Coming of Christ and our gathering together to him (i.e., the rapture) as a reason why they shouldn’t be worried.  He is not equating all of these things.

The coming of Jesus is not just a statement of the moment he breaks the clouds.  The word for coming is actually “presence.”  In Paul’s day, this is a technical phrase for a visit from a dignitary.  It was common for the city or region to have people who would go out and welcome the dignitary as he approaches.  Because he is coming, there are a large number of things that are being done to prepare for his arrival.  It is a term that covers the whole event from the signal that he is coming, the preparations for his arrival, and the actual arrival.  It pictures the last days from the perspective of Christ himself.  He will physically be present on this planet!

Our gathering together to him is a clear reference to the rapture.  Those who say there is no rapture generally only mean that there is not a rapture before the tribulation.  Scripture makes clear that those who are alive and remain will be caught up to the Lord (1 Thessalonians 4:17).  The question is not about if there is a rapture, but when it happens.

The Day of the Lord is similar to the Coming of Christ.  However, it ties in more to the Old Testament passages and has a judgment of the wicked focus.  Notice that the first and third phrases are about things that are not momentary or a short thing.  Whereas the gathering together to him happens in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.

Verse 3 speaks of the deception that was happening in their day.  Don’t let any one in any way deceive you!  They were being deceived about how things would go down in regard to the end times.  This deception was causing confusion and troubling them.

No one is saved by their perfect understanding of end times doctrine.  However, there is much within it that is intended to give us hope and confidence in Jesus while we face hardship.  A troubled person is still saved, but their troubled state can go further down a troubled path.  It is possible that such a person could even lose faith in Jesus and walk away from him.

I can imagine that a person facing martyrdom could feel that God has abandoned them.  Yet Jesus asks us to pick up our cross and follow him.  This is always metaphorical for believers.  We all have to go through things that cause self to die in a way.  Yet it is for some believers also a literal thing.  God may not stop your persecutor, but He will raise you up from the dead in order to display His favor upon you in the days ahead.  You will join the ranks of the righteous through the ages who have put their faith in God’s Anointed, Jesus the Christ!

The Day of the Lord and the Coming of Christ is not meant to stir fear in the believer.  It is meant to give us hope and confidence.  It is not meant to scare us straight.  1 Thessalonians 4:18 says that we should “comfort one another with these words.”

Verse three also gives a very important encouragement about events that are necessary before the Day of the Lord begins.  He states that the Day of the Lord will not come “unless” (or “except”).  We will look at the two things that must be in place in a second.  However, whether we call these triggers or simply prerequisites, it is possible to know that one is not in the Day of the Lord confidently.

The two clauses that Paul gives must happen, must be seen, before one can say that they are in the Day of the Lord.  In other words, if these two things have not happened yet, then you know for sure that we are not in the Day of the Lord, aka the Great Tribulation and its aftermath.

This is clearer than other phrases given in the New Testament as necessary before the end times.  Jesus spoke of the Gospel being preached to all nations and then the end coming (Matthew 24:14).  This is important, but it begs questions about what metrics the Lord is using in this.  In Luke 21:24, Jesus spoke of Jerusalem being trampled until “the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  It gives a sense of a particular amount of time allotted to the Gentiles.  However, it doesn’t tell us how long that time is.  Again, Paul in Romans 11:25 speaks of the “fullness of the Gentiles.”  It is a phrase that has the sense of a certain number who must believe in Christ.  Yet it too does not give any metrics from which to determine the Day of the Lord.

These two prerequisites are helpful to add into our list of things that must be accomplished before the Day of the Lord can begin.  Let’s look at these two.

“The apostasy comes first.”  The word apostasy in an English transliteration of the Greek word in this text.  Apostacy speaks of falling away or going away from a place of standing.  In this case, it is standing in Christ by faith in Him.  It is referring to believers who are falling away from faith in Christ or are falling away from the appearance of faith in Christ.  This can be an active form by a full rejection of Jesus.  It can also be more of a passive form.  People can redefine Jesus as Paul warned in Galatians 1, and follow another, a false, Christ.

The Day of the Lord will be preceded by a large number of the Church apostatizing, whether they admit that or not.  Jesus warned about this in Matthew 24:11. He spoke of false prophets deceiving many.  For sure there will be deception during the Day of the Lord, but the foundations for that deception are being laid down today.  Yes, we see apostacy, but not the great levels that are coming.

Some have tried to make this word refer to the rapture itself.  In their estimation, it is talking about a going away from the earth by believers.  This is more wishful thinking than an actual meaning of the Greek word.  It is talking about defecting from a position with the true Christ.

The second perquisite is that the man of lawlessness must be revealed.  Some versions have “the man of sin,” but these are synonymous phrases.  He is lawless towards God and Christ, which is sin.  Lawlessness is a person who refuses to obey the laws or commands of God.  Instead, he becomes a law unto himself.  God commands all beings in heaven and earth to bow the knee to Jesus.  This man will not! 

Sin is the idea of missing the true aim of God’s purpose for our life.  This man fits this in spades as well.  He embraces a path that is in the face of God’s commands and will (like Nimrod of old), and he completely abandons God’s intention for humanity.  He is a willful man.

This connects to the Antichrist figure that John warns about and the political beast figure in his book of Revelation.  He is also called the son of destruction.  He both causes destruction upon the earth and is destined for destruction at the return of Jesus.  Revelation 19:20 tells us that he will be cast alive into the Lake of Fire.

Thus, Paul declares that the Day of the Lord will have begun when a great apostasy breaks out, and the Antichrist is revealed to the world.  His true nature would only be clear to those who know Scripture.  How he is revealed to the world is not completely clear here.  But this man will come forth within global politics, and he will be presented as the one who has all the answers for humanity.  He will promise peace and safety but will deliver destruction.

We will learn more about this next week.  For now, we must recognize that the devil wants Christians fearful.  In fact, many humans want us fearful.  It creates political leverage and political capital.  Jesus tells us before hand so that we not only will not be deceived, but so that we will also not be afraid.

Remember that things are not falling apart.  They are only falling into place!

Paul's Warning 1 audio

The First Letter of Peter- 15

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 7

1 Peter 3:13-17.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, March 1, 2026.

The verses leading up to this section were a quote from Psalm 34 which declares that God is against evildoers and on the side of the righteous.  This was written by David expressing his faith in the midst of a time of persecution and suffering.  In other words, it was written in a time when he could easily have doubted this truth.

This begs the question of why righteous people suffer.  Peter doesn’t approach the issue this way, but it is at the back of all that he says about it.

Let’s look at our passage.

You may suffer for doing what is good and right (13-17)

When I say that you “may” suffer for doing what is good and right, I am keying off of the conditional words that Peter gives in this section.  The clincher is in verse 17.  There Peter uses the phrase “if God should will it.”

Of course, there are levels of suffering and different kinds of suffering. Yet Peter is preparing believers for whatever levels they may face.

There is a cognitive dissonance that occurs when we recognize that, though God is on the side of the righteous, He often allows the righteous to suffer at the hands of the wicked.  How can this be?

Whether we can answer this or not, Peter makes it clear that God does allow believers to suffer for doing what is good (verse 13) and right (verse 14).  He does have a reason, but we do not always know specifically what that is.

Of course, we are talking about good and right as God defines it and not as society defines it.  This is what marks a Christian.  We have stopped defining these things for ourselves or using society’s definition.  We are following the thinking and mind of Christ.

Even a society that was built upon the foundation of God’s definitions of good and right can drift away from them.  Eventually this becomes all out rebellion to the Word of God and to the Spirit of Christ.  We see this in the Bible with Israel, and we see it today in these united States of America.  An example is how our culture has been accusing Christians of not showing love when they do not approve of homosexuality or the transgender craze that happening.  The world makes a “moral” accusation that is equivalent to saying, “You are bad, even evil!”

Yet the truth is this.  There is nothing more loving than to protect your child against this wicked persuasion that has taken over our land.  It is fundamentally God’s will for parents to shield their kids from this.  It is an age-old problem.  Society’s love to call evil what God calls good and to call good what God calls bad.

In verse 13, Peter opens with this question.  Who would harm you for doing what is right?  Some translations use the word zealous for what is right and others have for following what is right.  Regardless of which of these is the right word, they both are saying the same thing.  Zeal refers to an internal drive for what is right.  The phrase “following good” (or imitating good) focuses on the external act that flows out of an internal zeal.  Yet the main point is about who would harm you for this.

We can approach this question like Paul does in Romans 8:31. “If God be for us who can be against us?”  The answer in one respect is, “No one of any consequence.”  Thus, Paul states that nothing (no one) can separate us from the love of God.  This is true even when God allows them to persecute us (harm us for doing good). 

Both Paul in the Romans 8 passage and Peter in this passage immediately bring up what God has done through Jesus and his suffering.  When we think about the suffering of Christ, we are reminded that he endured this for the sake of saving those who are lost.  Thus, we can contemplate this question of who might harm us for doing good in the sense that it would only be a person who is lost and under the judgment of God.  This is a judgment that God does not desire for them.  If my persecutors don’t repent, then they are going to face a judgment that they will not survive.

Whether we think of them as having no real power to affect our actions or we think of them as lost humans that Jesus wants to save, the Christian can face persecution without yielding to the temptation to be angry with God and even stop believing in His love for them.

In verse 14, Peter says, “even if you should suffer…”  The experience of suffering in the first century and in the twenty first century is not uniform.  On one hand, we are all guaranteed some level of suffering if we follow Christ.  Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:12, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”  You are going to pay a price.  But, on the other hand, the suffering of one person may be quite light compared to another.  The level of persecution is not the issue.  Rather, it is how we respond to it.

Peter challenges us to see that we are blessed even if we should suffer for the sake of righteousness.  He is using words from the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 5:10 reads, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.”  Those these people are blessed because God speaks on their behalf, this word for blessing emphasizes the happy experience of a life that is lived in right relationship with God.  How can a person be “happy in Jesus” when they are persecuted for doing the right thing?  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus continually points to what God is going to do for such people.  The kingdom will be theirs.  They have a great reward in heaven.  You will be like the prophets (and Christ) before you.  You will be comforted.  You will see God!  He ended with Matthew 5:12. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad!  How can a person rejoice when they are being persecuted?  They have to trust in their heavenly Father greatly.

Peter then quotes a part of Isaiah 8:12. “Do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled.”  In the context of Isaiah, God is counseling Isaiah on how to respond to the fear and craziness of a society that is in rebellion to God.  He even tells Isaiah not to call a conspiracy the things his people called a conspiracy.  This is not to say that there is no truth to their fears.  Rather, they are only afraid of those things because they don’t know God.  The one who trusts in God should not fear the things that the godless fear.  When you have no fear of God and you walk away from Him, you feel exposed to everything.  You fear anything and everything because God is not with you.

Threats can even come from people claiming to know God.  Following the resurrection, the apostles were told by the religious leaders to quit preaching about Jesus.  If they didn’t quit, they would be thrown in prison.  Yet Christians are told by a man who faced such threats not to fear those who threaten us.

Think about David.  Saul sought his life and called him a traitor.  David could have let fear move him to protect himself.  He could have killed Saul several times.  Each time David refused to do so.  Saul was a man in rebellion to God, and so he was afraid of things he didn’t have to fear.  David was not a traitor, and even if he was, God called Saul and could protect him.  It was Saul’s awareness that God was not on his side that caused fear.

Instead of fearing their threats and actions of persecution, we should do like David.  He feared God too much to respond to Saul in like manner.  We too should fear God too much to respond to people like the world around us is doing. Jesus is our example and guide.

Peter then lists two things we should do (verse 15) in lieu of fear.  First, we are to set apart Christ as Lord.  To sanctify or set apart means to make this one thing more important than anything else.  Christ as my Lord must mean more to me than a perfect life of comfort and ease.  I would be willing to give up anything even suffer anything before I would give up Christ as Lord.  This is what Paul is driving home in Romans 8.  Nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.  Yet I can let fears cause me to shrink back.  We are to guard our heart from such things.

The second thing we are to do is to be always ready to defend the reason for the hope that is in us.  People will be perplexed at the way you cling to Christ in the face of persecution and suffering.  How can you go through this suffering and not rant and rave against God?  How can you cling to Christ as your Lord when he doesn’t protect you from my torture?

They may never ask this question out loud, but we need to be ready to give a reason why we would have such faith in the face of such adversity.

Essentially, Peter is talking about testifying to your persecutors, your enemies.  In fact, the persecution of the righteous is one of the ways that God pricks the heart of those who do evil.  In those moments, we must not be overcome by their evil and return evil back to them.  This is our finest hour, our opportunity to slip the Gospel past their spiritual defenses.

Our great hope in Christ is still held in these weak, mortal frames.  It is easy for us to fear and balk under the threat of suffering.  However, we need to double down on trusting God.  When we are weak, the Spirit of God will be strong through us.  We can testify for Jesus and about Jesus to those who do us wrong.  This is the will and the mind of Christ.

Peter adds three descriptors to how we are to give our defense.  We are to do so with meekness, fear, and a good conscience. 

Meekness is strength under control.  It is hard to keep your composure when you are unjustly persecuted.  The Christian is called to control their flesh and follow the path of Christ.  Instead of letting anger cause us to rage, we are to let the Holy Spirit give us the words to say.  We are to trust God.

The fear (reverence) cannot be towards men.  He has just told us not to fear those intimidating us.  This is the fear of the Lord.  As I mentioned David earlier, he feared God too much to touch King Saul.  He would let God remove Saul.  When we give an answer to the ungodly, we are to know that we are to give the answer that God wants us to give.  It will be an answer that pleads with them to turn from their wickedness and turn towards the love of God that is even now extended to them through you.  Jesus is their judge, but he is also mine.  I must trust his judgments, whether with my own persecution or my ultimate judgment in eternity.

Finally, Peter mentions that we should have a good conscience.  This is also before God.  If I have done what I know God wants me to do (the good and the right as He defines it), then my heart and mind will have a simplicity (no ulterior motive) and the peace that comes from it.  David was no traitor.  He had a clean conscience before God.  Yet Saul still hunted him.  David didn’t understand why this was going on, but he knew that he was following God.  He didn’t deserve the things Saul was doing.  We may often struggle with the why of life, but there is a peace that can be found in having a clean conscience.  “I am following Jesus, and he will help me all the way.  He will be attentive to my prayer and against those who try to do me evil.”  I don’t have to know why; I just need to know Who.

Verse 16 ends with the challenge to do this in such a way that those who are slandering us (calling our good evil) will be put to shame.  All who falsely accuse the righteous of doing evil will one day face the shame of what they have done before God.  They may rail against your good conduct in Christ now, but they will be silent when they stand before God.  God will not be intimidated by the power and authority they had in this life.

Yet this can also go another way.  There is a certain public spectacle that happens when people given to righteousness are persecuted and slandered.  The person doing so may have their conscience pricked by the realization of what they are doing.  However, even if they don’t feel the shame of their actions, others watching may see the shame of it.  At the cross Jesus was truly paying the price for our sins.  Yet he was also pricking the conscience of everyone who ever hears the story of what was done to him and why.

Shame is real whether a person feels it or not.  Ultimately, we are challenged to live in such a way that those who do persecute us will only become a clarion call to the world around us drawing attention to the Lord we serve.

Verse 17 makes it clear, if it isn’t already, that God sometimes wills that we suffer for the good that we do.  This sounds strange, but Peter has laid the groundwork for the reasons He would do such things.  We are the goads in the hands of Jesus, pricking the dull conscience of this world.  We don’t do this just through our suffering, but also through how we suffer.

In these times, we must not lose sight of the purpose of God.  We must not let the enemy convince us that God doesn’t care about us.  We must not let the enemy separate our heart from the love of God, both for ourselves and for those who persecute us.

It was God’s will that Jesus suffer because it would make salvation possible, and it would draw people to that salvation.  Why do we tend to flee from suffering?  This is precisely what God uses to testify through us to others.  Perhaps we have fled too much, so much that there is no longer a testimony of Christ in our sphere of influence.

Peter ends with the encouragement that it is better to suffer for doing what is right than to suffer for doing what is wrong.  To suffer for doing wrong is not great feat.  You deserve it.  However, enduring undeserved punishments is a mark of someone who knows Jesus.  It is great righteousness.  We can only do this if we have a close relationship with Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  It is his vision, and it is what saved our soul.  He gave mercy to me and you through people who could have written us off.  If he did such for us, how can we not be his mercy in the lives of others, even those who persecute us for doing good?  We can’t, or better we shouldn’t.  We should say with Jesus, “Nevertheless, Your will be done!”

Our Witness 7 audio

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 65

Subtitle: A Quick Release

Acts 16:35-40.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on November 26, 2023.

Paul and Silas were in prison when an earthquake (God) opened their doors and loosed their chains.  We then saw how they led the Philippian Jailer to believe on Jesus.  A lot of things happened that morning from midnight to daybreak: they preached to the household, they baptized the jailer and his household, and their wounds were treated.

We don’t know the exact content of their prayers earlier that evening.  However, it seems likely that they asked God for favor to be released and things on that level.

We often pray for God’s help in different matters.  Sometimes, we have our heart and sights set on a particular answer, or a particular way for it to be done.  However, God in His power has a multitude of ways by which He can help us.  We, however, are not unlimited in power.  It is hard for us to trust, to believe, that God can answer the same prayer in a 1,000 different ways.  We tend to pray specifically for one way.  If we don’t see anything in the natural realm heading in that direction, we feel like God is not answering, or saying, “No.”  It is possible that God has already done everything, and things are simply falling into place.  We can fret needlessly when we neglect to trust God and wait upon Him in peace.

Think about the cross of Jesus.  It was not what any of the righteous in society were praying for.  When it happened, they all felt that it meant he had failed.  That was all they could see.  Yet, God’s power would bring Jesus even through death into victory.  In fact, his death itself was a victory over sin itself.

This is only in regard to God’s power.  Now, think about God’s wisdom.  In His wisdom, He may choose a way that we don’t understand, or take us in a different direction than we hoped for.  When God led Israel out of Egypt, He took them through the wilderness.  Part of it was to cut down on the number of enemies that they would have to fight.  Yet, part of it was to show Israel how He could powerfully care for them and loved them.  It was to be a time of intimacy.

The test for all of us is to know that, between God’s power and wisdom, our puny minds are  not going to figure out exactly what God is going to do beforehand.  We should pray, ask for help, and then trust Him to respond in His timing and in His way.

In our story today, God had Paul and Silas released from prison in less than 24 hours.  That is a quick release, a miraculous release, and it is all because of the help of God.  However, they didn’t know that when they were praying and singing hymns to God.  May God help us to grow in our patience and learn to trust our heavenly Father.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul and Silas are released from prison (35-40)

Though Paul and Silas are taken to the warden’s house in the middle of the night, they are technically under his charge as prisoners.  He simply is responsible for producing them whenever the magistrates summon the prisoners.

Whether they go back to the jail or not is not clear from the passage and is really irrelevant for our purposes.  In the end, word will come to let them go.

Before we get into that, I want to deal with this aspect of singing and praising God in the midst of persecution.   I imagine that several hymns, psalms, came to mind as they prayed to God.  It is clear that even David’s psalms began as prayers to God.  At some point, he crafted them into a poetic prayerful song to God.  Songs are a powerful way of ensuring that we remember milestones of spiritual wrestling with God.  Some things are worth remembering, are worth building an altar over and giving thanks to God.

Paul and Silas prayed in physical agony before God, and by the night’s end, God had answered their prayer powerfully, even having the jailer wash and tend their wounds.

At dawn, the magistrates send word to the warden that Paul and Silas are to be released and told to leave town.  We do not know exactly why they made this decision.  It is possible that they believe that Paul and Silas will leave town quickly and everything will be over.  There had been such a raging mob the previous day, that they didn’t want to have such a volatile situation.  They had already beaten the men, and so perhaps they feel this will get rid of the opportunity for more mayhem, and for their ability to control the city to be questioned by Caesar.

It is also possible that the earthquake in the middle of the night after such a strange day was interpreted by them as a bad omen.  “The gods must be angry.”  Either way, they want them to leave and never come back.

You might be wondering why God would send an earthquake when He would know that they would be released the next day.  Of course, why would he let them be beaten when He knows they are innocent?  These kind of question can never truly be answered because we are asking about what exactly God was thinking.  Good luck with solving that.  Yet, we now know that the freedom of Paul and Silas is not due to the good graces of the magistrates.  It is at the good graces of God.  The earthquake and consequent freeing of the prisoners would stand as a witness to believers that God was powerfully working in Philippi.  They could know that God was with them, no matter what happened ahead.

When Paul and Silas are told that they can leave, Paul refuses to go quietly.  We should note that he is not above sneaking out of town, which we saw in Acts 9.  There, he was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall of Damascus.

Paul doesn’t have a principle of never sneaking out of town.  There is something else going on here.  We need to listen to the Holy Spirit and seek His wisdom in moments like this.  Instead of a principle of always doing such and such, there is a real flexibility, a liberty, of the Spirit of God for what needs to happen.

Paul tells the warden that they are Roman citizens.  Why did he wait until now to bring it up?  It is possible that he was unable to do so in the pandemonium and anger of the city.  They simply wouldn’t let them speak.  There was no reason to assume that these Jews had Roman citizenship, but it would have been a wise thing to determine before beating them without trial.

Roman citizens had certain rights.  In this case, they should have been tried in a court with the ability to speak in their defense.  To punish them without trial was a grievous offense.

Paul doesn’t usually make an issue of his Roman citizenship.  Yet, he does here.  I do not believe this is an ego-driven decision.  Paul couldn’t care less about Roman citizenship.  He was more concerned about his citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.  Yet, the reputation of the Gospel of Jesus was at stake here.  And, it was clear that God was working in this situation.  God would use this abuse of rights to turn the tables on the magistrates.

It is important to understand that, though we have natural rights as humans and as citizens of the United States of America, as a citizen of heaven, we can waive them for Christ if need be.  The decision is not about my rights, but about what is helpful to the Gospel.  Paul’s Roman citizenship is subservient to his heavenly citizenship.

Men had put Paul in prison unjustly.  Of course, Paul did not want to be stuck there.  Yet, it is not up to the men who put him there, or my own rights.  It really is about God’s will.  They knew that God had more things for them to do.  And, they knew that God was making a point here in Philippi with the exorcism followed by an earthquake, and the salvation of two households in Philippi.

When word is sent back to the magistrates that they were Romans, we are told in verse 38 that “they were afraid.”  Paul could sue them, and they knew that he had them over a barrel.  They went from having their way with Paul and Silas to being afraid of what they will do.

Paul wants the magistrates to come down and release them.  This is the difference between, we magnanimously let you go and admitting fault publicly.   A quiet release and departure would allow them to play up that they had taught Paul and Silas a lesson.  An official setting of them free as Roman citizens would demonstrate the gross negligence that they had exercised the day before.

It is interesting that part of their fear has to do with what Paul and Silas will do.  Wicked people are always afraid that others will be just like them.  These guys don’t know Paul, but they are sure that they are about to be called on the carpet by the power of Caesar, if they don’t appease these guys.

Yet, notice that their fear is about the power Paul and Silas have as Roman citizens.  They are afraid of the Roman system and their own breach of its rules.  They are not, however, afraid of the God of Israel and His Messiah, Jesus.  They are not afraid of mistreating the ambassadors of Jesus, but of citizens of Rome. 

We could give them some slack since the Gospel is relatively new.  How are we doing today, twenty centuries later?  If we are to fear any power structure, it should be that of Jesus, and the God of heaven.  What is our excuse today?  I know of no country that is making its decisions based upon a fear of God and His Anointed King, Jesus.

A confrontation is always going on between the power of Jesus and the power of the world.  It is not just at the natural level with governments and human authorities, but against wickedness in the spiritual realm.  Do you know that you are a part of that confrontation, just as much as Paul and Silas were?  When you come into the life of an unbeliever, there are spirits who have invested a lot of time in trapping that person in sin.  When you speak into that, you are stirring up a spiritual hornets’ nest, poking the nest.

Though this calls for sobriety, we should not forget that the retaliation of those spirits is a poking of the Lion of Judah, who is on our side.  We are the apple of God’s eye.  And though that does not call for arrogance, it doesn’t call for fear and weakness either.  God has a plan for you to assist in plundering these spiritual powers.  It starts with your own life and then moves out from there.  He is committed to you entering into glory with Him.  May we go forth boldly with His help!

We also see here that God sometimes uses the world’s systems against the devil.  I am sure that the devil does not want Paul and Silas released.  Yet, even when he has control of the whole Roman system, we see God using it against him.  You can see why there is a push in our world to coalesce the powers and systems of this world into one system controlled by one man, or very few men.  Such a global system will be achieve if only for a few years (see Revelation 13). 

This can give us some understanding to the judgment following the Tower of Babel.  Nimrod had led the world into a rebellion against the plan and purpose of God.  The judgment came in the form of confusing their languages.  They then separated because they couldn’t understand each other.  This barrier would take time to be overcome.  By then, different cultures and different ways of thinking would be entrenched.  Though this sounds bad from a sense of powerfully “fixing” problems in this world, it really is also a grace.  Often, God’s judgments have an element of grace within them.  These barriers to “global unity” would slow down and confound the devil’s ability to do anything that he wants, even when he has all of them under his influence.

The magistrates show up and “pleaded with them,” “brought them out,” and “asked them to depart from the city.”  God doesn’t determine what men will do, but every power and authority on earth is at the mercy of God’s decision, Roman empire or not.”  If we truly believed this, we would be far more careful in our lives, and we would be far more concerned for America.  Religion without relationship is not enough.  We are either serving God and His purposes, or we are resisting and rebelling against the Spirit of God.

Paul refuses to leave without saying goodbye to the new believers.  Thus he goes to Lydia’s house and encourages the brethren (believers) there.  Added to them now is the Philippian jailer and his house hold.  On top of this, we can hold out hope that the fortune-telling slave who was freed from the pythonic spirit would join the church as well.  Perhaps, she was on the auction block that next day, and either Lydia or the jailer, could purchase her freedom and attach her to their households.  Who knows?

These three people represent very different flavors of God’s grace.  Lydia was technically a believer.  However, once Messiah Jesus had come forth, she would need to put her faith in Messiah to demonstrate her faith in Yahweh, the God of Israel.  The Philippian jailer was no doubt an idol-worshipper.   The demon possessed girl who was now free had quite a different story.  Ultimately, it is not about how amazing your testimony is.  It may be wiser for us to think of it as God’s testimony in our life.  All three of these people needed Jesus just as much.  No matter how different the story, they were all in the same boat without Jesus.

Paul and Silas would leave, but not as whipped felons with their tail between their legs.  They would walk out of that city with their heads high, and rejoicing in what God was only beginning to do in this city.  May we too march forth into our cities and into our families so that God can use us to accomplish great spiritual work for His kingdom.

A Quick Release audio