Acts 18:1-17
1After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001
No Government Shut Down – Acts 17:1-9
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="210"] Statue of Augustus Caesar[/caption]
Have you ever heard a parent say to a child, “Who taught you to say that?” God the Father surely says that to his children when we speak vainly of him or damagingly to others. It is wise and good that we carefully use language that glorifies and honors our Creator. This is especially true when we are directly speaking about him and the Kingdom of his Son that he is building by his Spirit.
Out of fear and reverence of God, therefore, we speak honorably of God. But is speech that is reverent toward God equivalent to religious speech? Can we only use religious language when speaking about Jesus Christ and his Kingdom? Acts 17:1-9 clarifies that we can and should speak of God in terms of the world we live in. In Dr. Ben Witherington’s commentary on Acts, he writes that in Thessalonica there was a growing “imperial theology and eschatology” and “the essence of this theology was that the emperor was the universal savior whose benefactions and aid should be proclaimed as good news throughout the region.” Note how Paul’s Thessalonian contemporaries understood his gospel claims to be political in nature when they accused him of “acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus” (Acts 17:7). In terms of theology, Jesus, and not Caesar, is the true Son of God, Lord, King, and Savior. Paul uses these titles in contrast with the Emperors of Rome who also laid claim to these titles. In terms of eschatology (i.e., how the story ends), Jesus is the one who will bring ultimate regional peace and security to his people from God’s bountiful store in the Capitol City of God. In this way, Paul contrasts the Capitol City of God (i.e., heaven) with the Roman Empire, which also claimed to be able to bring “peace and security” from its capitol city, Rome. Witherington notes that, “the politically charged language in 1 Thessalonians is evident and becomes even more apparent in 2 Thess. 1:5-2:12, where the discussion is again couched in the language of the coming King and the coming kingdom.”
Clearly Paul uses more than religious language for the Kingdom of God and we should too. As we do so, we ought to remember that whenever Jesus enters the picture, he ought to transform it. Just as Jesus is like Caesar, he is also much different from Caesar. Jesus’ friendly act of laying down his life and God’s faithful act of raising his Son by the Spirit for the sake of sinners must color all language devised to communicate Christ.
Allow yourself to consider the Kingdom of God in terms other than the traditional. Consider Jesus from the perspective of our world. Seek to imagine him in terms fitting to today’s world and let him transform and broaden your and others' horizons. He is coming to bring his government to earth, and it will never be shut down.
Acts 16:16-40
16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” 18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. 21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.” 22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them, 26 and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened. 27 When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
35 But when it was day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.” 36 And the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Therefore come out now and go in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38 The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39 So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 40 So they went out of the prison and visited Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.
Acts 2:32-41
“…Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”
“…This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
'The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”’
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."
Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001
Acts 16:6-15
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days. 13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together. 14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. 15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay." And she prevailed upon us.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001
Acts 16:1-5
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.Do You Disagree? Acts 15:36-41
Disagreement is a funny thing. Well, maybe funny isn’t the right word (but interesting might be overused). You see, on one hand, agreement is our goal (2 Corinthians 13:11). We also know that we are not to be selfish and always demand our own way. At the same time our discomfort with disagreement may be because of other reasons. Ungodly fears of rejection and of being wrong can often dictate our emotional response more than godly commitments. In order to tease out our motivation we need to both be aware of our emotions and also what triggers them.
In our passage Sunday (Acts 15:36-41) we learned about a disagreement that was unavoidable between Barnabas and Paul. They disputed as to whether John Mark should join them on another missionary journey. (As a side note, why do we call this the “second missionary journey”? Isn’t it their third? First was the journey from Antioch to Jerusalem with help for Jewish Christians, second to Cyprus and southern Turkey in an evangelistic form of outreach. Maybe we think of missionary as only having to do with word ministry as opposed to deed?) This disagreement within the body of Christ was unavoidable because a) they are humans and will not have God’s perspective on the issue b) God didn’t speak into the situation with his perspective and c) John Mark’s sinful behavior added the irrationality of sin into the picture. So, at the point where they had their “sharp disagreement” the goal was to disagree to the glory of God.
So how could they (and how can we) disagree to the glory of God? We need to disagree with humility, without despising and as those who are ultimately answerable to the risen Christ our Lord. We must be humble because we are only human and God hasn’t given us his divine perspective on our particular situation. Humility is requisite because of the many ways sin has fractured the many situations we find ourselves in. Despising and hatred do not have a place among us, and so when we have differing opinions we must nevertheless respect the other (Romans 14:1-3). Despising those we have disagreed with shows that there is something amiss about the way we are relating to our brother, sister and/or God. Finally we must be able to stand before Jesus and be able to say we took our position out of concern for his glory and good for our neighbor. Jesus died and rose to the end “that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living” (Romans 14:9-10). If your goal in defending your position is to please your father, friend or professor without any thought to Christ and his judgment than your disagreement is less than gospel disagreement. That is because gospel disagreement will always seek to be agreeable to Christ’s will. We cannot disagree with God.
So, how are you doing in your relationships? Do you agree with people, simply to keep them from leaving you? Do you disagree with people simply to be the first to do so since you believe they will reject you anyways? Where do your fears about disagreement come from? Are they rooted in the gospel of God’s grace through Jesus Christ? When we know that we are accepted by God eternally through Jesus and that God’s people are striving to work out disagreements in this way our lives will increasingly grow into the harmonious unity that God desires for us.
Questions for Conversation
What is the worst disagreement you’ve ever had? Why was it so bad? Were your emotions coming from a place of fear? If so, what were you afraid of?
Are you embarrassed of that disagreement? Why?
Will you be able to stand before your Savior in good conscience regarding the position you took in that disagreement?
Is it possible to contact that person and remain connected to them in a healthy way? How could you do so?
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