Letter to the Colossian Church- 14

Subtitle: Final Instructions

Colossians 4:2-6.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 26, 2025.

As we near the end of this letter, Paul returns to general instructions that all Christians need to follow.  In our relationships, the distinctions of this world do not matter, male with female, wife with husband, parent with child, and slave with master.  However, we grow up in a world that inundates us with the idea that they are very important.  So, what does matter? 

We find this answer particularly in Galatians 5:6 and 6:15. The only thing that matters is “faith expressing itself through love,” and “being a new creation [i.e., like Christ].”  These are two ways of saying the same thing.  God is love; Christ is love.  When we take on his image by faith, His love flows through us.  This is an expression of God’s new creative work within us.  We are part of His new creation.

The devil and the world know that these differences bother people.  These differences are often the leverage they need to manipulate us for their ends, for political capital, etc.  This divide-and-conquer method is the most effective way to subjugate us. 

It is easy to think that this modern age is the apex of wisdom.  We are far too sophisticated to fall for such tactics.  However, the truth is this.  Humans have not changed over the last 2,000 years.  The United States of America is not the apex of wisdom; Jesus is!  If we do not listen to him and the apostles that he sent, we are only walking the same foolish path of others before us, no matter how great we are.

Thus, the Lord is telling us through the apostles that our rights and our experience are not the most important things in life.  We are not to focus on what our rights are, but rather on how we can use our abilities for the purposes of Christ.

As the Son of God, Jesus had rights and privileges, but he laid them down in order to serve God the Father, and in so doing, serve us.

Let’s look at our passage.

Be a person who prays (v. 2-4)

At the beginning of this letter, Paul described how he and his fellow workers had been praying for them. In Colossians 1:3, he says that they were “praying always for you…,” and in verse 9 of that chapter, he says, “we have not ceased to pray for you…”

So, here in chapter 4 verse 2, he is not instructing them to pray, as if they were not doing this, but rather, he is calling them to follow his example, which is ultimately to follow the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We cannot follow Christ without prayer.  Yes, prayer for ourselves, but also prayer for one another.  This is fundamental to what it means to be a Christian.  If you haven’t been a person of prayer, then this is something that He is calling to do.  Prayer is not a mechanism for getting what we want.  It is a growing relationship with our Heavenly Father.

Paul uses the word “devote.”  This word has the idea of persevering in an endeavor, in this case prayer.  Devoting yourself to something involves time, energy, and desire.  It is not so much about desiring to do a religious work, but about desiring to talk with God about our life.

This is why we hear people in the Church talking about devotions or doing your devotions.  It generally means setting aside an amount of time each day to read the Word, pray, and worship God.  Of course, we do not want this to become a religious exercise alone.  We should want quality as much as quantity.  The best course is to make sure that you are doing some amount of time while also praying that God would help you to grow in a quality of devotion.  If you have been barely praying, don’t try to pray 2 hours a day.  This will not endure because there is no relational foundation to it.  The Bible doesn’t give us a number of minutes or hour.  Rather, it calls us to prayer.

Many people who begin reading the Word and praying will only go so long and then they quit.  Why do they quit?  Sometimes it is because it doesn’t feel like God is listening.  Of course, how would we know if God was listening or not?  Our feelings are just that, our feelings.  Sometimes people come to this conclusion because they prayed for God to do something that never happened.  Of course, we forget quickly that our earthly parents often didn’t do what we wanted them to do.

Our desire in prayer must be much deeper than trying to get something out of God.  Rather, we need to be giving Him our intimate self.  He is our source of wisdom, strength, and direction.  Without Him, we will be unfruitful in making an eternal effect upon this world. So, hear the Holy Spirit calling you to pray.  Devote yourself to it. 

Paul then speaks of being watchful in your prayers.  Keeping alert, being watchful, comes from the same word that Jesus used in the garden of Gethsemane when he asked his disciples to “watch and pray” with him.

In some respects, we are watching over our own soul when we pray.  We share with God what we are seeing in our heart and mind, while asking Him to help us to see more and better.  We pray about the things that threaten to make us stumble.  We pay attention to how the enemy is attacking us now but also praying for wisdom regarding his plans ahead.  We seek to hear from the Holy Spirit regarding those things in our life that need to be removed (sin) or added (like prayer).

In all of this, we should be watchful for what is happening to the other believers connected to us.  We are to be brothers and sisters spiritually watching one another’s back.

It is amazing how many things will come to you while you pray.  The act of praying over our life opens the door for the Holy Spirit to lead us further.  This is connected to the sense of being a vigilant watchman.  The enemy will continue to attack, but those who pray will be alerted to the threats and will alert others.

Paul then emphasizes that we should do this with an attitude of thanksgiving.  Prayer can easily wear a person down, especially when they are only focused on getting something from God.  Prayer is even more about God receiving what He deserves.  When we serve Him and enter into a real relationship with Him, it makes a fruitfulness in our life that is greater than any “bad” experiences we may have.

Don’t focus on what you are not getting or on what is not happening.  Instead, you should have an atmosphere of thanksgiving in all of your prayers.  I try to thank God every time I ask Him for something.  “God, please give me wisdom in this situation.  I thank you for all the wisdom that you have poured into my life through the Word, through mature believers, and by Your Holy Spirit.  So, I ask knowing that you know what I need to know.”  Pray in such a way that you are grateful to even be able to ask in prayer.

The person who isn’t thankful will say that it is because they don’t have anything, or much, for which to be thankful.  However, the person who stops and gives thanks for even the smallest of things will come to discover just how many ways God has blessed them.

In verse three, Paul then asks them to pray for him and his missionary associates.  Of course, Paul is currently under house arrest in Rome.  But that doesn’t have to stop the spreading of the Gospel.  This letter exemplifies God’s desire that we all be praying for one another, rather than each one for himself.  If we all pray for one another, then we go from only having one person pray for us (me) to having a bunch of people praying for us. Such prayer should flow from a heart of love, but in the end, it will increase our love for others.  This is cyclical but can be jumpstarted by simply being faithful in prayer.  Just make your first prayer about asking God for a heart of love.  “O God, help me to love as You love.”

Let’s take note of the kinds of things that Paul asks them to pray.

Pray that God will open a door for the Word.  Sometimes people and places are unwilling to give the Gospel of Jesus a hearing.  The idea of a door that God has opened is picturing those moments of opportunity that arise in life.  We saw this in the Book of Acts when Paul and his group kept hearing the Holy Spirit telling them not to go into certain areas.  It is God who should lead us.  Our work should dovetail with His prior and current work of preparing hearts.  In fact, “our” work should be infused with His Spirit and His Help.  Thus, our work is really His work too. 

Sometimes God will tell us in prayer that a door is opened or closed for sharing the Gospel.  This is an internal mechanism.  However, other times, the closed door presents itself rather forcefully, and yet, simultaneously other doors spring open to our surprise.  A praying person can trust God to lead them in both ways as He chooses.  While Paul was in prison, he could have given up, but he is praying for open doors instead of getting out of prison.  He wants to share Christ wherever God makes that possible.

We should also pray that we will be able to speak the Mystery of Christ to others.  This mystery is now only mysterious to those who haven’t had it explained to them.  The amazing person of the Messiah was not just to save Israel, but also all of the Gentiles who would respond to the offer of salvation through him.

Sometimes open doors look like going to prison.  They don’t make sense to us, but God uses them for His greater purpose.

This request for prayer is the backdrop to the description of Paul’s imprisonment in Acts 28. Paul was allowed to have visitors, even large numbers.  For two years, he was able to encourage the Christians of Rome, preach to the Jews who didn’t know Jesus and also to Gentiles who didn’t know the plan of God to save the world.  All of this was done in the city that was the seat of the devil’s beast kingdom.  I would say their prayers were being answered.

Finally, Paul asks them to pray that he would have the ability to make the Gospel clear (as he ought to do).  We should never take it for granted that we are being clear.  People come from very diverse backgrounds.  We really do need the help of the Holy Spirit to lead us in clarifying the Gospel.  Clarity isn’t the only obstacle to the Gospel, but at least if we are clear, their choice will be clear.

Be careful how you live towards unbelievers (v. 5-6)

Paul now moves from their prayers, whether personal or for others, to how they live among the believers of Colossae.  We need to take care how we are living around everyone.  However, we need to take special care around unbelievers because God wants them to come to know Him.

He uses a term that is best translated as “outsiders.”  It is a term that is used often to refer to something being outside of another thing.  Several times Paul uses it of those who are not Christians (1 Corinthians 5:12f, 1 Thessalonians 4:12).  They are not just outside of a local church.  They are outside of Christ.  They are not believers in Him.

This concept of believing in Christ and then being in him has been emphasized in this letter.  Chapter 2 verse 6 reminds them, “as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.”  The phrase “in Him” is given again in verses 7, 10, and 11.  The outsiders are those who have not put their faith in Jesus and joined the community of believers.  They are outside of the grace of God.

People can be outsiders for very different reasons.  Most are outsiders because they are ignorant of the truth of God and His Messiah.  However, it can also be a willful rejection of the Gospel.  It may be a mixture of both.  The main point is that God is in the business of making outsiders to be insiders.  No one was made to be outside of His grace and love.  However, He will force no one to be in His grace and love.

We are then told to walk in wisdom towards these outsiders.  “Walk” here is a metaphor for how we live our life.  It also pictures intentionality as we walk towards them.  God wants our lives to intersect with outsiders.  If we let His wisdom lead us, we can be a good witness to them.  Part of the wisdom is simply knowing that God wants your life to speak to them of Christ.  Yet, we should pray for specific wisdom regarding specific people.

Of course, we fall short of displaying and living out the wisdom of Christ.  We must be honest when we fall short.  Jesus is saving sinners, and that includes us.

The flip side of this is for Christians to live foolishly around outsiders.  This would involve not obeying Christ, saying one thing and doing another, or trying to be like the outsiders.  Wisdom would tell us that they need saving, and yet, we can also be drawn away from Christ by them.  We must be wise in our conduct.

Paul then tells them to make the most of every opportunity.  Some versions say, “redeem the time.”  It can simply mean to make the most of every opportunity that God gives us with others.  Yet, it literally says, “redeeming the season.”  Time is contemplated here in regard to the season we are in rather than pure chronology or amount of time.  Now is the season for harvest.  It is a season of God offering grace to His enemies.  It is the season of the righteous laying their lives down so that others may hear the Gospel and be saved. 

We should also recognize that, within this great season of grace, various areas have a season, as well as individuals.

We are not just making the most of a particular opportunity, though that is important.  Until Jesus comes back, we have the great opportunity of working with the Holy Spirit in order to bring people into the Kingdom of the Son of God’s love.  Eventually the night will come, and there will be no more time to shine the light of Christ to them.  Intentionality towards the things of God is what helps us make the most of the time that God has given to us.

Paul then tells us to always speak with grace.  Of course, he doesn’t say to speak with grace if they are gracious to you first.  No, our life is to be marked by the grace of Jesus.

Grace here is not so much a theological topic that we are sharing, but rather, a way in which we speak with others.  We are to speak graciously.  The idea behind grace is that of a gift that should bring joy to the receiver.  The Gospel really is good news.  We should share it with grace, or with a gracious spirit.  We see this in the life of Jesus.  Of course, there were times of sparks when his grace was thrown back into his face by those who should have known better.  But even then, Jesus did not let these offenses embitter his spirit.  He was the grace of God to them.

Paul pictures this as seasoning a meal with salt.  Sharing the Gospel is like sharing a meal.  We can do so in a bland, flavorless way.  Jesus spoke of this in Matthew 5:13. “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, how can it be made salty again?”  He then speaks of it being thrown outside and trampled under the feet of men.  It takes the help of the Holy Spirit to speak with grace.  This gives people the greatest chance possible to embrace Jesus.

Paul may also be thinking of the Old Testament sacrifices.  All sacrifices in the Old Testament were to be salted.  As we sacrifice our lives for God’s purposes, we need salt, flavor, a zest for them, which comes across when we are gracious to others.

Earlier, Paul had asked them to pray for him to be clear as he ought.  Here, he turns that to them.  If they walk wisely towards outsiders, speaking with grace towards them, then the Holy Spirit will help them to know how to speak.  Even more, He will help them to know what to speak.

We can feel impotent in reaching others for Christ.  Yet, the answer is not in shrinking back from the duty.  “I’m no good; I might as well sit down and let others do it.”  The answer lies in exercising wisdom.  Through prayer, we go back to God who has called us.  We ought to take care of how we live and what we say.  “Does it honor Christ and His purposes?”  We should also have the right attitude.  It is God’s desire to draw people to Christ through us.

We should not take things personally and react from the flesh.  God is even working through the offenses that people make towards us.  Jesus is worthy of anything we may need to suffer because He has suffered for us all, even the outsider.

When the enemy stirs someone up to be an enemy towards us, we need to remind ourselves that God saw this coming.  Perhaps, He has them right where He wants them, just as He has you right where He wants you.  Don’t let anger and a desire for justice turn off the grace of God in the lives of those who are lost.

Final Instructions

The Letter to the Colossian Church- 4

Subtitle: The Work of Christ among Them

Colossians 1:21-29.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 3, 2025.

After he has presented a powerful picture of just who Jesus is (the Lord of Creation and the Lord of the New Creation), Paul now turns to Christ’s work among them in Colossae.

This great work, of a God who is capable of such great things, is the same One who is working in little you!  It is important for believers not to doubt that God’s greatness does not make us insignificant to Him.  It is quite the opposite.  As men become greater in their scope among others, their limited nature requires a level of leaving details to others who work for them.  God does delegate, but He doesn’t do so because He is limited.  Rather, He is in every minute detail of how our bodies are fearfully and wonderfully made, and how our spirits were made to glorify Hiim in these bodies and in this life.  Don’t doubt His working in you.

Let’s look at our passage.

The New Creation in Colossae (v. 21-23)

This New Creation is not something that is happening somewhere out there in the universe or on the earth far away.  It was happening right there in Colossae.

Jesus is also right here in Everett, Washington doing his work.  He is working in Abundant Life Christian Fellowship, the church we are at today.  He is working in your house, your life, and inside of you.

Of course, this could make us feel uncomfortable.  Yet, when we understand that our heavenly Father loves us more than we can imagine, so much that He sent His Son to pay the price for your sins, we can learn to rest in His work.  Yes, He will correct us and scrutinize us, but it will be done in love and with all the help that He supplies through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and other believers.

In verse 21, Paul describes their condition prior to Christ’s new creation within them.

They were alienated from God.  They had been made strangers to God, first by the rebellions of their forefathers, and second by their own thoughts and actions.  This is more than proximity.  It also has to do with our understanding of God.  We are clueless to who He is and what He is like.  We do not respond to Him like one who is in close relationship, but as one who does not know Him at all.

Not only were they alienated, they were also hostile in mind through evil deeds.  These are actually connected together, rather than seen as two separate things.  Actions begin in the heart and then process in the mind, until we do them.  Why are our minds hostile to God and His purposes?  We can blame it on  our culture, and there is a level of truth to this.  However, we all have a personal part in this rebellion, which is our own hostility towards God, acted out in sinful deeds.

What I mean is this.  You may grow up in a sinful culture that is hostile to God.  However, along the way, as that sin causes harm to you, you will question it.  You will see that something is wrong in the ways that you are being enculturated.  Yet, in many small ways, we choose paths that are not good, but sinful.  They are hostile to the way God would have you be.  It doesn’t matter that you may not know God’s ways because God is good.  Thus, we choose ways that are not good, showing that we are hostile to God even before knowing Him.  This hostility towards a God we do not know is revealed every time we justify our sinful actions to the people around us.

God knows the culture surrounding a person.  They are not His enemy because of that, but because of their own choices and actions.  This is how the Colossians were when the Gospel came to them.  The Gospel showed them that they had been far away from God and unknowing enemies against Him.  The Gospel teaches us to own up to our own sin.  We cannot repent for our fathers and mothers.  We cannot repent for our nation (or Republic, as the case may be).  But, God gives each one of us the opportunity to repent for ourself.

Christians are those who have quit hiding behind everyone else’s sin as an excuse.  We see this dynamic when we talk with someone who “doesn’t need Jesus and his religion.”  You can challenge them with this question.  “So, you are perfect and don’t need to repent of anything?”  They will often respond that it would be unfair for God to expect absolute perfection from them.  “No one is perfect!”

Yet, the underlying dynamics are not about what you think God should accept.  That is like a kid in front of a judge believing that the judge should not hold them accountable for anything they have done.  Such a delusion will not serve you well in the courtroom.  No, this is about who God is and what He is doing.

God won’t settle for imperfection.  Yet, He knows that you cannot be perfect in and of yourself.  Instead of lowering the bar, which would have Him forever dwelling with sinful beings and pretending that they are okay, He lowers Himself in such a way as to make us perfect.  The Gospel is the good news that God the Father has created a way for us to be made perfect so that we can dwell in His presence, His goodness, forever.  He is not willing that any should perish, but He will not force anyone to choose Him.

This brings us to their present condition in verse 22.  Their situation has changed.

Christ has reconciled them.  Their life was full of errors compared to the goodness of God.  They could not “fit in” with God’s purposes in their prior state.  Thus, through Jesus the Christ, God has brought them into a state of harmony, or peace, with God.

Notice that Paul emphasizes that this was done in Christ’s “fleshly body.”  There is an emphasis here that is intended to block, even to rebuke, the tendency within the Greek mindset.  They could not fathom the fullness of God dwelling in frail human flesh.  Of course, they believed Zeus could come down and bed a fair maiden.  But, the idea that a God could be killed, not just by a mortal, but as a mortal.

This is part of the source of many philosophers and teachers that continually tried to use Christian teachings as a vehicle for their own ideas.  They felt that they were making it better, but in truth, they were not.

Those who put their faith in Jesus have been reconciled to God by what he did in frail, weak, mortal flesh.  The humiliation of the devil is found in this irony.  Jesus defeated him not as an immortal, but as a weak human.  Further irony is found in the devil’s stubborn grasp on his pride while Jesus humbles himself to the lowest place.  This idea is not just contrary to the devil’s mindset.  It is contrary to the mindset that fills this world, even our hearts.

Of course, the Eternal Son is not weak and frail anymore.  However, he is still humble, waiting for the time when the Father sends Him to take up the Kingdom from the powers of this earth.

Jesus had reconciled them in order to present them: “holy, blameless and beyond reproach.”  There is a purpose in making peace between us and God. 

The idea of presenting them can also be translated as to be set or established before him.  It can be contemplated as a future thing that is after our resurrection, which is the easiest to see.  In that day, we will stand before God the Father with holiness and without blame. 

However, it can also be contemplated as already present.  To be holy is to be cleaned and set apart for God’s purposes.  This is a present reality for the believer.  The death and resurrection of Jesus has cleansed us and given us a mission for the purpose of God, both by what we are (His possession) and by what we do (His work).  In this sense, we can never be more holy.

Jesus has also removed the guilt of our sins from us so that we are blameless and beyond reproach right now.  Yes, we are often missing the mark of God’s perfect righteousness.  However, Jesus has paid the price for my sin.  This would be like the University trying to take me to court for bills that my Father in heaven has already paid.  They can protest that it wasn’t my money, but in the end, they have no case.  The price has been paid.  Their true problem is not that they were harmed, i.e., weren’t paid, but is in their own vindictiveness that cannot bear to see such a worm as me to get a break.

Thus, the devil can make every accusation against those who have been reconciled by Christ, but he has no standing and no case, at least not now.  The prime argument of Satan is that we have sinned and therefore must die.  In Christ, this argument is neutralized.

Of course, the believer ought to live in this life in such a way that there is no reason to “take us to court,” whether in the courts of men or heaven.  We ought to respond to the legal holiness and blamelessness supplied by Christ by letting the Holy Spirit teach us and enable us to live out the righteousness of Christ.

In the practical sense, we can become holier and less blameworthy.  This is a powerful part of the good news.  Our failings in this life will be fully healed in death and resurrection.

Verse 23 inserts a condition, “if.”  The “if” here recognizes that the believer must continue trusting Christ.  He must remain “in the faith.”  This is not about staying in a particular church or denomination.  Rather, we can remain in a place of perfect standing before God through our continual trust in Jesus.

Yet, believers can be “moved away” from the hope found in Jesus.  Their standing is only effective as they stay “grounded, steadfast, not moved away.”  He goes on to describe that this is the Gospel that has been preached everywhere, and is the same Gospel that Paul was made to serve.

It isn’t spoken yet, but Paul is aware of some people who are trying to disturb the Colossian Christians and draw them into a different Gospel.  There will be more on that in the next chapter.

Think about it.  The devil does not want you to keep trusting Jesus and serving him.  He will use anything in his power to coax or to bully you away from the work of Christ in you.  Yet, you have been enabled to resist him by the power of Christ that is working within you!  I am not strong enough in myself, but I can trust Christ and be strengthened by the Spirit.

Some may protest that if a believer does anything, then they are saving themselves.  They try to remove this idea that we can walk away from Christ, thus dissolving the condition in which we are reconciled to be holy and blameless before Christ.  However, this is an erroneous argument.

We are not talking about making sure your faith is strong enough to save yourself, as if our “capacity to believe” is extremely effective.  It is about responding to the grace of God that has been put before us.  There would be nothing to believe, if Jesus had not brought it close to us and put it before us.  We are only saved by His grace, but through our faith in Jesus.  Our faith didn’t make anything happen.  It was all the gift of God.  However, I still need to reach out and take hold of the gift.  The same Spirit that helps us to see the Gospel, also helps us to remain in the faith, if we are willing.

Like moving food from a plate that God has placed before us, the believer’s faith becomes a channel of God’s grace.  Were you “fed” by your own works?  Of course,  you were not.  No amount of making the motions of feeding ourselves can feed us, if God has not put a plate of food in front of us.  To protest that you are “feeding yourself” in this example, a person is focusing on the lower mechanics of the food moving to our mouth, and yet ignoring the higher mechanics of making the food possible.  It is God who has fed us and even now continues to feed us.  It is His work alone in making it possible, but His greater work is comingled with the lesser work of countless humans to help us to actually eat, including ourselves.

God’s sovereignty is not hurt by our ability to believe in Christ because this was His choice from the beginning.  It is actually His sovereignty that chooses to give us a real choice.  Those who protest against this are actually limiting the sovereignty of God to choose to do so.

As we move forward, I want to deal with what some may call an error.  Paul speaks of the Gospel “which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven…”  It comes across as an absolute statement that would include North and South America, along with every creature (really?  All the snails too?).  This protest is actually an obstinate attempt to avoid the point.  The Gospel was destined to go everywhere and be preached to all people.  By this time, the whole Roman empire had been filled with the Gospel of Jesus, and was even moving forward from their.  Paul is giving a backhanded argument about why they (we) shouldn’t move away from Jesus.  There is no other Gospel out there to find.  There is no other savior as if God has created multiple paths to salvation.  This is the way that has been preached everywhere and to everyone. 

The ministry of Christ through Paul (v. 26-29)

As Paul has mentioned his post as a minister of the Gospel, he then speaks about the way that Christ is working through him to help them.  In fact, this letter is exhibit number one to that fact.

It may seem odd that he begins by mentioning his own suffering.  Paul was currently in Rome under house-arrest.  He had endured all kinds of hostility from his fellow Jews and from hostile Gentiles.  He endured these hardships because that is what it took to take the Gospel to places like Colossae.

Why can he say that he rejoices in these sufferings?  He can say it because this is what the Lord was asking of him.  Who will pay the price to take my good news to those who are still my enemies?  Paul is pleasing his Savior and Lord, Jesus.

He can also remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:11-12.  “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Do you believe that God takes note of all the hardship you endure, whether to take the Gospel to people or even to live for Him?  Do you believe that He will reward you for anything you suffer on behalf of serving Him?  Paul saw that he was in good company with all the prophets and saints who had gone on before.  We all love a good story of courage under fire, but it is another thing when we are under fire.

Paul is not just identifying with Jesus and the prophets before him.  He sees himself as laboring with the Lord Himself in these things.  The Lord is not untouched with our sufferings.  He is even now suffering with us.

We can become accusatory towards God.  “It is so hard down here!  When will you come down and do something about it?”  However, it is the other way around.  God has suffered over the sin of humanity from eternity past.  Even as He laid the foundations of the earth, it was with tears.  It is only in Jesus that we begin to catch a glimpse of the suffering of God.  No matter how horrendous the suffering of Christ was, it was only an analog to the reality of God’s suffering.  The irony is that, as we accusingly shout at His indifference, He is even now suffering over our refusal to repent and trust Him, i.e., our indifference to His grand overtures of love.

The second part of verse 24 is somewhat cumbersome in English.  Paul talks about “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”  The word for afflictions is typically translated as tribulations or persecutions.  It is a term that has the idea of intense pressure between a rock and a hard place, and it is becoming tighter. 

Paul is not talking about the suffering that Christ did on the cross to make peace between us and God.  There is no lack in that.  Jesus once and for all died for our sins (Hebrews 7:27).  Rather, Paul is talking about the afflictions that are necessary to bring the Gospel to people and helping them to endure.  We are the “body” of Christ, and as such, we are to give ourselves to the desire of the Head of the Church, Jesus.  This was prophesied long ago that the followers of Messiah would volunteer to join him in this ministry of suffering, being afflicted, for the sake of bringing salvation to others.

Thus, Christ is pictured as still working, being afflicted, in His Church, in order to minister to the lost world-wide.  We all have a portion, a part, in this.  Some have a portion of greater affliction than others.  Paul was doing his part.

The question is now this.  Will I do my part?  We can be discouraged by thinking we are not doing any good.  Don’t do that.  Instead, lay your concerns before God in prayer.  “God, I feel like I am falling short in my service for you.  But, I ask you to fill me, empower me, enable me, and lead me to be useful for your purposes.  I recognize my inability to fathom the depths of what you are doing through me, and I ask you to strengthen my faith for what I am facing right now.”

In verse 25, Paul talks about how he was made to be a minister for their benefit and for others.  He had a stewardship, a post of management within God’s people for which he would give account one day.  He sees himself as proclaiming the full Truth of God and as fulfilling all that the Word of God said would be and tells us to do.  Some versions only bring out one side of this, but both are intended.

Paul then digresses to emphasize the Gospel further.  It had been a mystery through the ages, but now had been revealed to the saints (v. 26).  The Gospel is manifest in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, but also in the teachings he gave to his apostles. 

The Gospel mystery is all about Jesus.  How could God redeem Israel and the Gentiles, while taking them out of the hands of the devil?  The good news is that Jesus is the answer.

We might ask why it was kept a mystery.  I can see at least two reasons.  First, God values faith over a thin veneer of service.  Thus, He acts in such a way as to prove that He is trustworthy, but doesn’t reveal all that is ahead so that we can demonstrate that we do trust Him.

The second reason has to do with our enemy the devil and his evil cohorts.  1 Corinthians 2:8 says, “[God’s] wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  This can include human rulers, but clearly references the spiritual powers that truly ruled the nations.  The salvation of humanity hinged upon the crucifixion of Jesus.  If the devil had understood this, he would have kept Jesus from being killed.  Instead, God used his desperation and pride against him in order to save us.  Satan wields the blow that loses the battle for him and wins it on our behalf.  Yes, Jesus is our champion, but he took out our enemy in a way that calls all to repentance.

Of course, after the cross, it was now God’s will that this revealed mystery be made known among the Gentiles so they could have its riches.  He doesn’t flesh this out, but uses the word “glory.”  Some of the riches are found in the glory that comes from walking the path of Jesus behind him and by his power.  Yet, there is another part of the riches, the glory we will have as we stand in glorified bodies next to our champion, Jesus!

This mystery can be summed up in the short phrase, “Christ in [us], the hope of glory!”  This is not a hope as the world hopes.  This is a hope that God has set in front of us.  He has revealed it to us, promised it for us, and even now, it is reserved for us in the heavens where no devil of hell can touch it.  I am not just struggling alone hoping to reach it someday.  The Spirit of Christ is even now inside of me, working to bring me to it.

In verse 28, Paul mentions three verbal phrases regarding what He is doing.  He is proclaiming Christ to them.  He is admonishing them, i.e., warning them of dangers.  And, he is teaching them with all wisdom that he has received from Christ.

He is doing these three things in order to “present every man complete in Christ.”  This idea of presenting them is the same that we mentioned back in verse 22.  There Christ is the one doing the presenting.  Here, Paul works alongside Christ in order to set them, to establish them, as complete in Christ.

This too can be contemplated as a present reality and a future one.  On the day of resurrection, the people of God will stand in ranks with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Paul’s goal is that they will be found there on that day.  We will all be complete, or finished, perfected on that day.

Yet, even now, we have everything we need for life and godliness.  Through Jesus, God is supplying all that we need.  In this sense, we are complete, perfect.  As long as we keep our trust in Christ, He will bring us all to that hope.  The enemy cannot stop us.  Our hope is sure.  This is a vast difference from where I was before Jesus.  I wasn’t even a trouble for the devil.

Paul then testifies that his labor was a labor that was empowered by Christ in him.  Literally he says, “according to his working in me in divine power working!”  That’s a lot of working help from Christ!  It is not our job to be strong enough.  It is our job to present ourselves to the work of Christ everyday.  We can’t conjure up divine power, but we can be present and let God’s Spirit empower us to do His work.

Of course, how that divine power manifests is up to God.  You may want God to do some spectacular thing that makes you look powerful.  The power of God was even then being demonstrated in Paul by working through him in writing letters.  It is not generally how we want it to happen, but as God determines.

So, we get up and faithfully give ourselves to the work that he has given us, but not in our own power.  Do you have kids or grandkids?  Then, get up and give yourself to them for the purposes of God.  Whatever the relationship that God has given you, serve His purposes in them.

You are the one planting the seeds.  You are the one watering those seeds that have been planted.  You are the one who may even get to harvest some of those seeds that have come to fruit.  However, never forget that it is God who gives the increase.

We are still here because there are still strongholds of the devil that need pulled down.  In fact, our faith is possible because of the faith of someone in the past that dared to pull down the devil’s stronghold in you.  This is the work of Christ, not just through Paul, but through any of us who will join Him in this mission!

Christ's work audio

The Acts of the Apostles 76

Subtitle: Resurrection at Troas

Acts 20:1-12.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 18, 2024.

Following the riotous mob in Ephesus, lead by Demetrius the silversmith, Paul then journeys to Macedonia (northern Greece). 

If it takes a mob to do what you want to do, then it is probably not the right thing, and it is definitely not the right way to go about it. 

Yet, Paul had already purposed in the Spirit to leave Ephesus, travel to Greece and then travel to Jerusalem.  Everything from this point on has the sense that Paul may not see these people again.  It isn’t known for sure by him, but it is his working premise.  What he knows for sure is that persecutions and tribulations await him in Jerusalem.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul ministers in Greece (v. 1-6)

As Luke has already told us in the previous chapter, Paul follows Timothy and Erastus, whom he had sent ahead in Acts 19:22.  This previous preparation, along with verse one of this chapter, shows us that Paul was not fleeing Ephesus.  Rather, he takes the time to gather with the disciples there and say goodbye.

Nothing is said of Paul’s journey through Asia and the ship ride from Troas to Philippi in Macedonia, but this would have happened.  Similarly, we are not told how Paul reconnects with Timothy and Erastus, or who left with him from Ephesus.

Verse two mentions that he goes to Greece after “he had gone over that region.”  Of course, we tend to think of Macedonia as Greece, but this is due to the conquering of Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great.  We should not see this as a mistake, but as the language of someone who knows how the people of southern Greece viewed themselves in relation to the area of Macedonia.

By the way, some believe that this is probably the best time for Paul to have preached in Illyricum, which is only mentioned in Romans 15:19.  This is what we would call Albania today.

So, Paul connects with churches in that area and then travels south into Achaia.  Luke does not mention any particular city, but the mention of sailing to Syria from there was most likely a reference to Corinth.  We also know that Paul had written 1 Corinthians from Ephesus, which said that he was working to come to them.  Paul ends up staying for three months.

As Paul plans to sail to Syria (most likely Antioch), a plot against him is discovered.  It is believed that the plan may have involved attacking Paul while on the ship because it would be impossible for him to get away. 

Of course, this doesn’t happen, but the root of these disturbances are not the people involved.  The root is found in those evil spirits in league with the devil.  Synagogue leaders and silversmiths are not Paul’s enemies.  They are simply captive to the devil’s schemes and manipulated by him.  We need to understand this about our own land.  You can look at politicians, political parties and individuals, and see that they are leading against the ways of Jesus Christ.  This does make them an enemy to the Gospel.  Yet, Christ doesn’t tell us to fight against these people.  We are to fight against the spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6) that are in the heavenlies.  They are the ones that manipulate these people to operate against Christ.  We are called to interpose ourselves between the manipulated person and the enemy of their soul. We work for the purposes of Christ, which is to set them free from the devil’s lies.

Having discovered the plot, Paul changes his plan.  He does not sail from their to Syria, but rather, he goes back through Macedonia, believing that he will run into less resistance there.

Luke lists seven companions of Paul on this part of the journey.  Sopater of Berea (some manuscripts add that he is the son of Pyrrhus), Aristarchus and Secundus (this is a common slave name) of Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy (whom we know to be from Lystra, which is near Derbe), and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.  These last two could  be from Ephesus, but they also may be from one of the seven churches of Revelation.  I would also point out that the pronoun “we” crops up again in verse 5.  Luke also has joined the group, although he does not name himself.  This gives eight guys, nine counting Paul who traveled together.  Paul then sends most of the men ahead to wait for them at Troas.

This large group of men may have been traveling with Paul due to funds he was carrying for Jerusalem.  In his letters, Paul asked the churches to have money ready for him to pick up when he came through in order to bless the hurting churches of Judea.  Their numbers would dissuade any highwaymen from trying to assail them.  We should also notice the variety of places they are from.  They also would serve as witnesses that the money was not pilfered, but indeed, made it to Jerusalem.

Regardless, Paul’s plans are changed.  It can sometimes feel like someone or something has messed up our plans, or even our lives.  I really do believe that God uses these situations to direct us.  Those who are seeking the leading of God’s Spirit do not need to fear these type of events.  It may change your plans, but God helps us and will be with us. 

Of course, sometimes God Himself changes our plans.  He may speak to us in prayer, or through another Godly person.  In this case, we have wicked people intent on doing evil.  Of course, God isn’t inspiring them to do this.  Yet, the Christian is never at the mercy of other people, or even the spiritual powers of wickedness.  What they intend for evil, God works to the good for us.  Like the story of Joseph, his brothers were brought to a place of repentance.  They had intended evil, but God worked it to the good of Joseph, and of them.  He brought them to a place of repentance over their evil deeds.  You can trust God!

It is here that Luke explains that they leave Philippi after the feast of Unleavened Bread (immediately follows Passover).  This means it is spring and would place the previous three months in Corinth during the winter months.  Sailors avoided traveling in winter months.  Paul decides to remain at Troas for 7 days.

Paul ministers in Troas (v. 7-12)

Having reunited with their group in Troas, they fellowship with the church there.  Verse 7 explains that the day before Paul left was the “first day of the week.”  This is the first clear mention that Christians gathered on the first day of the week, Sunday.  “To break bread” was a reference to eating a fellowship meal together, and was often connected to also celebrating communion, or the Lord’s Supper.  They gathered to eat together and then Paul preached to them.

There are several other places in the New Testament that allude to Christians gathering on the first day of the week, Sunday.  In 1 Corinthians 16:2, Paul tells them this. “On the first day of the week, let each one of you lay something aside storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”  It is clear that they are giving the offering when the group is gathered.  Though it is not said that they do anything else, it is implicit that they typically gathered on that day.

There are some who try to make a big deal about what day you worship on, similar to what foods you eat.  Colossians 2:16-17 tells us, “So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.”  It appears that Christians are free to worship on any day, even many days.  The day of rest (the sabbath was sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) is a shadow or lesser image of Jesus Christ).  We now dwell in the realities of what these things pointed to.

We are told that Paul preaches to midnight.  This is another one of those clues that gives us the sense that Paul knows he may not be coming back.  In fact, he isn’t stopping at midnight.  We typically take our church gatherings for granted.  However, when it may be your last one with these people, such a meeting would take on great significance.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow.  Thus, we should not take our gatherings lightly.  God teach us to love one another with all of our hearts.

Verses 7-8 set up a classic situation.  The description of a young man would place him between 20 and 40 years old.  I would lean to the younger side of this range.  Luke gives us several factors in a row that lead up to the young man falling out of a window.  First, Paul has preached up to midnight and does not seem to be stopping.  Second, there were “many lamps” in the upper room where they were gathered.  I would assume that these are oil lamps.  It would make the room warmer and mixed with exhaust.  They are on the third floor with a sleepy, young man sitting in a window.  It is at this point that Eutychus falls out the third-story window to the ground below.  Paul’s words may seem to contradict the next statement, but we should not ignore Luke’s  statement, “he was taken up [picked up] dead.”

This interrupts the service.  Of course, in any gathering of God’s people, there may be an series of things that we want to do together, such as: eating, worshipping and hearing the Word of God preached.  However, our ultimate purpose is to glorify Jesus and encourage one anther in the faith.

We are told that Paul rushes down and falls upon the young man.  I don’t believe this means he tripped and fell upon the lad.  This is reminiscent of 1 Kings 17, where Elijah lays on the dead boy, praying for God to bring him back to life.

Paul’s statement that the boy is not dead, i.e., “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him,” can be seen a contradiction to the earlier statement of death.  However,  it is even more likely that it is Paul’s statement after he knew that God had heard him and touched the young man.  Regardless, faith and the will of God are both involved here.  Paul has been preaching about the resurrection of Jesus, no doubt.  Here is fresh proof of God’s power over life.  This would powerfully impact the group.  Essentially Paul is saying that everything will be alright.  In fact, Paul goes back to preaching.

They return to the upper room, where Paul preaches until morning.  It then mentions that the young man was brought in alive.  This makes the most sense if the young man was still unconscious and being looked over since Paul’s prayers.  To say his life is in him does not mean that he was dancing in the street.  In fact, he may have still been unconscious.  By morning, however, he is well enough to come join the group.  What a demonstration of God’s miraculous grace to this young man.  This is a true resurrection.

When we think about the resurrection, we can think of it as only a future promise that seems disconnected from our present.  However, the message of the resurrection speaks to our present.  It shows us that we don’t have to fear threats in the present, whether they physically threaten our life or metaphorically threaten it. 

In 1 Corinthians 15:32, Paul talked about fighting with wild beast in Ephesus.  I don’t think he is talking about literal beasts.  The mob and Demetrius were as offspring of the beast empire that Rome represented.  Of course, Paul did not fight with them in the natural.  Rather, he fought the intimidating spiritual powers through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit.

We don’t have to fear these spiritual power, or the natural powers.  Everything about the cross and death says that we have lost; it didn’t work; God doesn’t love you or care about you; He is not keeping His promise.  It says all those things that the devil tempts us to believe, at least that is what our flesh hears.  Yet, three days later, when Jesus is resurrected, we see that we shouldn’t listen to the enemy in our hearts and mind.  We must not look at the things of this world and extrapolate from what we see a conclusion about God’s care for us.

The resistance and difficulty that we experience in this world, even from our own flesh, says nothing about God’s love for us.  God is greater than everything that we may face.  We don’t deny the reality of those difficulties, but instead, we recognize the greater reality of God’s power over them.  May God help us to walk in faith, our eyes upon Him and not upon what we see down here!

Resurrection at Troas

The Acts of the Apostles 70

Subtitle: Paul Returns to Antioch

Acts 18:12-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 30, 2024.

In our passage today, Paul finishes his 2^nd Missionary Journey, which has taken him through the central area of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and throughout the coastal cities of Greece.

We pick up with him ministering in the Greek city of Corinth, where the Lord has told him not to fear because there are many in the city who belong to Him.  Paul ends up ministering there for at least a year and a half.  This is what sets up our story in verse 12.

Let’s look at our passage.

A charge is brought against Paul (v. 12-17)

There is a reason why Paul spent longer in Corinth than he did in many other cities.  It has nothing to do with God loving Corinth more than other cities.  Part of it has to do with the receptivity of the people in the city.  However, how many places did Paul not visit?

The good thing is that these cities generally became hubs of evangelism into the region around them.  Paul isn’t the only one that can tell people about Jesus.  Aren’t you thankful for that?  Paul was faithful share the Good News of Jesus to others who would then become faithful in sharing such to new people.  This was true within nations, regions, cities, and even within the lives of you ministers like Timothy and Luke.

There is a passage in 1 Thessalonians 1:8 where Paul is praising the church there for its faith and evangelism.  He says that “from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out…”

We are not given a direct timeline, but we know that Paul, believers of the Jews and Gentile God-fearers had separated from the synagogue at some point.  The church of Corinth essentially began in the house of a man named Titius Justus next to the synagogue.  Even Crispus who was the synagogue ruler had believed and joined these followers of Messiah Jesus.

We eventually come to this scene where the leaders of the synagogue have brought Paul up on charges before the Roman Proconsul, Gallio.  There charge is stated in verse 13.  They accused him of persuading people to worship God against the law.  It wasn’t against the law to worship God or the gods.  However, the Romans did have a policy that only religions recognized by Caesar could be promoted.  This was not about Romans approving of a religion, but rather about keeping control over disputes, uprisings, and unrest.  They had recognized Judaism as a legitimate religion that had a certain amount of protection under Rome.  Thus, the charge is about Paul starting a new religion.

This reminds me of China’s policy.  There it is illegal to proselytize people to any religion.  However, if a person asks you about your religion, then you are free (it is lawful for you) to speak about your religion to them.  It is different, but in general, it is a similar control mechanism.

We are told that Paul begins to give his defense, but is interrupted by Gallio.  Paul is not promoting a new religion.  He actually represents all that the people of Israel had been praying for and preaching about for millennia, the coming of Messiah.  This is just an in-house disagreement over who Messiah is.  Yet, Gallio doesn’t give Paul a chance to defend himself.

Gallio points out that he would hear the case, if it had something to do with a wrong that Paul had done to them or some knowledge they had of a wicked crime that Paul had committed.  However, he then warns that he is not interested in judging matters that have to do with words, names and Jewish law.  Of course, this is all about Paul naming Jesus as the Messiah.

Now, it is very likely that Paul looks even more Jewish than the Corinthians Jews that are charging him with promoting an illegal religion.  Paul didn’t quit being Jewish.  He dressed like a first-century Jew; he talked like one.  I believe that Gallio sees a group of Jews trying to charge another Jew that is clearly not from Corinth, i.e., he is actually from Judea.  He either knows this is a squabble among Jews about Jewish things instinctively, i.e., from past experience, or he has information from others.  Of course, their Jewishness is not the reason that there is a dispute between them and Paul.  This is a problem for all people of every kind.  We can be very creative in our ways of disputing with one another.  Regardless, Gallio immediately sees that this is another one of those internal Jewish matters, and he is not interested in being dragged into it.

On one hand, these are proper words.  The government of a people should have no part in judging, or controlling matters of faith.  Of course, if our disputes over religion break into criminal activity- God forbid!- then government should intervene in regards to the criminal activity.   Again, I will point to China as a place where Christians are told what they can teach and promote in their churches.  This is inappropriate for any government, much less one that is atheistic.

On the other hand, I get the sense that this has nothing to do with Gallio trying to do the right thing and give justice.  It seems that he is more annoyed with “these Jews and their squabbles.”  Note that, just years prior, Claudius Caesar had made the Jews leave Rome because of disputes over a man named “Chrestus” (see last weeks sermon on this).  Gallio has some knowledge about this rising dispute within Judaism that threatens the precious Pax Romana.

Let me put a finer point on this.  The squabble is the result of God moving in this Corinthian synagogue and some of the Jews didn’t like it.  Gallio is more like these Jews he is standing against than he would like to admit.  Yes, from time to time, we see the Roman government helping to shield Paul from his fellow Jews.  However, this very same Rome will eventually put Paul, Peter, and others to death.  Rome didn’t like this move of God any more than some of the Jews in the synagogue.  Rome executed Jesus who is the very essence of God’s move in His Church. 

This is a spiritual dynamic.  Those who are resisting the work of God are a hodge-podge of many powers, beliefs, and people.  They don’t always like each other.  It is a very dog-eat-dog arena.  At this time, Rome is the top dog, and it is letting these Jews charging Paul know that it is in charge.  So, let us not imagine that there is anything more going on here than exactly that.

We are then told that Gallio drives Paul’s accusers from the judgment seat, the bema seat (bay-muh).  No doubt, this means he had some guards do so.  They are driven from the place of presenting cases back into the area of spectators. 

This is a human bema seat, and not even the highest one at that time.  Any decision by Gallio can be appealed to Caesar by a Roman citizen.  It is one thing to receive or not receive justice in the bema seats of this world.  However, one day, we all will stand before the bema seat (the judgment seat) of Messiah Jesus.  Paul reminded the Roman believers of this in Romans 14:10.  “But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you view your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” (LSB).  Paul reminds them that both sides of any matter will stand before Jesus.  What will he say of your squabble then? 

Jesus warned us of judging one another.  He didn’t say we shouldn’t judge because there is something inherently wrong with making judgments.  Rather, he points out that we are going to receive the type of judgment we give to others, and that we will receive it in the measure  (much or little) that we give to others.  This is a shot across the bow of every human being from the One who will sit on the greatest bema seat ever raised up.  Jesus warns us that he will give us what we gave to others.  This ought to humble all of us, but it generally doesn’t.  Most people give a “meh” over such statements and continue on judging others unfairly and harshly.  The sad thing is that, when Jesus judges them, it will be harsh, but completely fair.

We have all failed in this.  Can we be freed from that future judgment?  Yes!  The Holy Spirit brings stuff to our mind from time to time.  It is called conviction.  Conviction is not condemnation.  Condemnation tells you all the ways you have failed and tells you that you can never get out of it.  It motivates you to quit and go your own way.  Condemnation is not from God.  It is from the devil and our own soul.  Conviction is different though it too starts with how we have failed.  The Holy Spirit points out our failures so that we will feel sorrow, repent and put our faith in Jesus.  When we confess that Jesus was right and turn to him for forgiveness, then he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).  “God, I was so judgmental.  Please forgive me because I don’t want to be that kind of person, much less be judged by Jesus when I stand before him.”  Of course, the Holy Spirit will also lead you to tell people you are sorry for your harsh judgments.  This is called works that are worthy of true repentance.

In 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, it says, “Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for [d]his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (LSB).  The point is that we are to do what we do to please Jesus.  We must be less concerned about dragging others before courts in order to obtain justice, than we are about the day in which we will personally be judged by Jesus. 

The amazing thing is that God created humans in such a way that we can be redeemed!  No matter how broken you are, your life can be redeemed (has been redeemed by Jesus already) when you turn to him in faith.

The ruler of the synagogue, Sosthenes, is then beaten.  The New King James Version mentions that this is done by “Greeks.”  However, the word “Greeks” is not some of the ancient manuscripts.  Scholars are left with trying to determine what was the original wording?  The manuscripts that don’t have this word essentially say that “they all took Sosthenes…and beat him before the judgment seat.”  So, is the emphasis upon the Greeks doing it, or was it a simple “they all?”

It seems most likely that the word Greeks was added rather than removed.  There is no evidence that scribes were purposefully removing words from the original writings of Scriptures ever.  So, how could they justify an addition?  Sometimes a scribe would put an explanatory note in the margins of a manuscript.  Later scribes who were copying the manuscript before it became too old to be useable would generally continue the note in the margin.  However, some would put the word in the text, perhaps unsure as to why it was put in the margin or accepting it as inspired testimony from the past.

Why would a scribe feel the need to emphasize this was the Greeks doing this?  The “they all” in the scene could be read as those who were on the plaintiff side.  This would have Jewish people beating up a Jewish ruler in the court.  This seems improbable, though we could suppose some sort of anger that they were made to look bad in public.

The Greek insertion, or marginal commentary, would help to make clear what was happening.  Sosthenes is attacked by the Gentile observers as a public rebuke of bringing a frivolous case before the Proconsul.

This penchant for mob violence is a theme throughout the New Testament, but also in the testimony of history.  Paul and the Christians are not on the side of beating up their accusers, and neither should we be.  It is not good to be “in one accord” (v. 12) when we are doing evil because we will find it rebounding back at us (v. 17).

There is a possibility that this Sosthenes later became a Christian.  First, we already know that Crispus, who also was a synagogue ruler, had become a Christian.  Secondly, in 1 Corinthians 1:1, Paul mentions a fellow brother Sosthenes that is with him when he greets the Corinthian believers.  I wonder if this beating at the hands of the Gentiles was used by Jesus to get Sosthenes attention?  Regardless of whether this is the same Sosthenes or not, this is the kind of God we serve.  In His mercy, God allows hurts and pains to come into our life because they soften us up to what His Holy Spirit is trying to say to us.  In fact, Saul of Tarsus, Paul, came to know Jesus through an eye-damaging affair, and that was done by Jesus himself.  God is not looking for reasons to reject us.  He is faithful to work daily through the good things of life, and through the bad, to draw us into relationship with him, to repentance.

Paul returns to Antioch (v. 18-22)

At this point the story turns and moves very rapidly.  Paul is going back to his home church in Syrian Antioch.  However, he takes time to go to Jerusalem first.

Verse 18 tells us that Paul “still remained a good while.”  This can be interpreted two different ways.  Verse 11 tells us that Paul stayed in Corinth for 1.5 years.  Then, we had the event before Gallio, and then, we have the statement that Paul still remained a good while.

These can be seen as sequential.  Paul was there for 18 months, and then, this charge before Gallio occurred.  Following that, Paul still remained a good while.  That last phrase is nebulous, but it would be interpreted to mean that Paul was most likely there for another 6 months to a year, for a total of 2 to 3 years.

However, verse 11 can be seen as a kind of thesis statement for the section that follows.  Overall, Paul stayed there for 18 months.  During that time, this event before Gallio occurred.  Following it, Paul stayed there for a good long time, but still encapsulated within the year and a half.

Regardless of how long Paul stayed in the city, it is clear that Corinth was very open to the Gospel, even though it was a very sinful city.  Sometimes people who are in the depths of sin are more open to the Gospel because they are daily suffering the bondage and ill-effects of it.  We can’t always know the people or places that will be receptive to the Gospel.  We can only be faithful to follow the leading of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Luke mentions hair being cut off in Cenchrea because of a vow.  Cenchrea was a port city to the east of Corinth.  Luke spends very little time on this, so neither will I.  It seems to serve as the reason why Paul will later tell the Ephesians that he cannot stay with them, i.e., the vow requires him to go to Jerusalem within a certain time.

Some will try to say that it wasn’t Paul who made the vow.  However, this is highly unlikely.  All the other verbs are clearly telling us what Paul did.  Even when it mentions Aquila, it does so in a prepositional phrase.  It literally says that Paul took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila.  The most natural way of reading the hair cutting (it is a participle) is that it is describing Paul.

Some immediately connect this to the Nazirite vow spoken of in the Old Testament.  It involved not cutting the hair until the end of the vow, as well as not eating or drinking of the fruit of the grape vine, nor touching any dead body.  However, a person could make a vow regarding their hair without it being a Nazirite vow.  If it was a Nazirite vow, it begs the question as to why the hair was cut off in Cenchrea and not Jerusalem.  A Nazarite vow requires that the hair be cut and offered up with a sacrifice at Jerusalem.

We really are missing too much information to be dogmatic about any of this.  From time to time, Jews would make a vow to Yahweh. Typically, they were either consecrating themselves to a task, or there was something they were desiring from God.  So, what is Paul doing?

Some are troubled by this as if a vow represents Paul hypocritically lapsing into Judaism.  This is a nonsense argument.  First of all, Paul’s teaching was not about getting rid of anything that looked like Jewish things.  He was concerned that certain Jews were trying to require that Gentiles follow the requirements of the Jewish Law in order to be acceptable to Jesus. 

Thus, Paul’s argument to Gentile Galatians is that they should not be circumcised.  They are acceptable to Jesus by the spiritual circumcision of the Spirit, not of the flesh.  He even warns them that they are in danger of cutting themselves off from Christ in such acts.  However, we should not make the non sequitur conclusion that Paul would say the same thing to a Jewish Christian who had a new baby.  “Whatever you do, don’t circumcise that baby or you will have nothing with Christ!”  The church in Jerusalem was made up of a large majority of Jews.  They still did Jewish things, dressed Jewish, went to the temple, etc.  However, they were putting their faith in Jesus now.

Ask yourself, is making a vow to God a Jewish thing or a Christian thing, a law thing or a Spirit thing?  It is clear that many people have made fleshly vows to God, thinking that they can manipulate Him, or impress Him into giving them what they want.  If this is your purpose, then you will be unsuccessful.  In fact, people have made foolish vows.  We are warned about how we make our vows.  We need to do so humbly and led by the Holy Spirit.

There is a holy place in our relationship with God where the Spirit of God moves upon our heart and we vow to put our cell phone away for a week, or social media usage.  This is not a Christian thing or a Jewish thing.  It is a person-having-a-relationship-with-God thing, a person who is having a real relationship with God.  This is not something that everybody has to do.  It is a personal thing that surfaces in the life of a person as they serve Jesus.  This would have been Paul’s heart in the matter.

Next, we see that the ship makes a stop in Ephesus.  It appears they are stopping for supplies, trade, or both.  Paul took advantage of this to go to the synagogue and reason with the Jews and Gentiles who were there.  It appears that the Ephesian synagogue was open to hearing more.  They wanted him to stay longer, but he declined due to a timely need to go to Jerusalem, most likely having to do with his vow.

This may be why we are told that Priscilla and Aquila remain in Ephesus.  They could continue their trade of tentmaking while helping the Ephesian believers to understand how the work of Christ fulfilled the Scriptures and what God wanted believers to do in this new era of Messiah.

However, Paul does promise to return to them, God willing.  We do not need to turn this into a required ending to every sentence, but every servant of the Lord needs to have this humble attitude.  Of course, God often works through our godly desires and intentions.  However, He sometimes has a different plan than we do.  Paul is not rejecting them by not staying.  Rather, he is fulfilling something else between him and God.  When that is satisfied, he will attempt to come back, but even that is dependent upon what the Lord allows or tells him to do.

We should note that the Gospel is not dependent upon any one person.  Yes, Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles, and God works powerfully through him among them.  Yet, God’s sending of Paul to another place besides Ephesus does not limit what He can do there.  Even people who are being led by the Holy Spirit need to remain humble about what they think is God’s will.

I should remind us that the Holy Spirit forbade Paul from going into the province of Asia, of which Ephesus was a major city, on the first missionary journey.  Yet, he is now here speaking to the Ephesians about the Gospel.  So, we see God’s timing without explanation.  In chapter 19, God will allow Paul to come back and spend 2 years here on his third missionary journey.  Thus, “God willing” is a phrase that recognizes the sovereignty of God in matters of direction and timing.

Paul boards the ship again and sails to the cost of Judea, landing at Caesarea.  They travel from the coast up to Jerusalem.  To give you an idea, the temple mount is about 2,428 feet above sea level. 

Jerusalem is not mentioned by name here.  Rather, it speaks of him greeting the church.  No doubt, he also gives a description of his journey and what God was doing among the people of Greece.

Paul then goes down to Syrian Antioch (modern day Antakya Türkiye), his home church at this point.  It is good to have a home, and a home church as a base of operations.  It represents a safe place, a strengthening place, a re-energizing place, and a place of people who love and support us.  He could share with them the results of their labor of financial support and prayers for him and his missionary group.

We might even think of that as we go out from our churches each week into our daily lives.  We return again, whether at the end of the week or periodically throughout the week.  It is meant to be a place of people being real and loving with one another.  May we be a people who are quick to repent, quick to forgive, and quick to support God’s work in one another’s lives.

Return to Antioch audio