Discipleship Yields growth

Acts 18

I Love that your guys are going through the book of Acts after finishing the book of John. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to start a bible study with a group of older gentleman. When going through an epistle of Paul, I found that they struggled with content because they did not understand the Narrative behind the Gospel. Much like Ron has done with you, I began to go through a Gospel followed by the book of Acts. This established a timeline and map to better understand Paul’s writings.

What I love about studies like this is that we can see life application applied to the texts based on the events that happen surrounding the text. In the case of Acts, we can see Paul’s letters to people and churches a correlation and application when we reflect on what happens in the book of Acts.

So as we begin this morning, I want to first identify who the participants in today’s narrative are and the relationship they have to Paul. From there we will look at Paul’s message to the Jews and Gentiles and then later an interaction between some of Paul’s followers. Then we will find application for our lives today.

Acts 18:1–5 ESV

1 After 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.

The first thing we find out here is that Paul heads to Corinth. Corinth is a Roman colony established roughly 100 years before Paul’s arrival. It was known as the Gateway between Europe and Asia. Because of this central hub, Corinth floursished as a melting pot of cultures and religion.

Paul is a tentmaker by trade. As he comes to town, potentially looking for work he finds a tentmaker couple named Priscilla and Aquilla. This couple had Jewish roots though they had recently left Rome due to Ceaser making the Jews leave Rome.

As Paul joined this couple there is little indication that he had to convince them about Jesus as the Christ. There was already a commonality of Salvation between them. Paul would spend the next 18 months with them, sharing in the Gospel and ministry together.

In verse 5 Silas and Timothy come to town. Silas and Timothy have traveled with Paul over the last two chapters. Paul has been discipling them and will send them to deliver messages at times.

What we see in these people and their relationship with Paul is a Mentor or Pastor relationship from Paul to these four individuals. Paul taught and instructed them. He stood beside them. Ate meals with them. They saw Paul on his good days and bad.

Now Paul, following Jesus’ example, went to the synagogue every Sabbath to reason with the Jews and Greeks. The Greeks here would be what the Jews called God-fearers. Essentially they converted to Judaism but had no Jewish Ancestory.

The text here in Acts doesn’t give any context to Paul’s message. But in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we do get some idea of his message.

1 Corinthians 2:1–5 ESV

1 And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

When Paul was in Athens, you might recall that he gave this lofty speech Areopagus, a place where all the religious Scholars and philosophers debated and proclaimed their belief. That wasn’t what he did in Corinth. Corinth wasn’t the center of academia but where everyday people lived and worked and traded. Corinth was where average fold lived.

Paul, then tailored his message to the audience in Corinth. He kept the message completely on Christ as our saviour. He kept the message on what God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, had done to and for each of us. He provided a witness to those in the synagogue.

This is important for us. we don’t have to have some grand speech to those around us of who God is. Instead, we need just be a witness and reason on what God has done for us. Keep it simple and say what God has done.

Lets continue on in this story.

Acts 18:6–11 ESV

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.

So what was the reaction to Paul’s message; The Jews opposed and reviled him. Today this would be like a Facebook or Twitter war. Challenging with contempt and anger what we know is truth. They made Paul out to be an evil guy. It says they took this to the point where it was starting to get physical as they started tugging on his clothes.

It gets tough dealing with people sometimes. You do everything you can to help them and they shut you down. They don’t listen to truth. It can go from frustrating to overwhelming. We come to a point where we are done. We are like God, I am done cause these people don’t wanna listen to clear evidence or logic.

Paul hits that point. He essentially is saying, when you are burning in hell its your own fault. I tried to tell you. He walks out the synagogue and God opened a door, right next door. With that, a home church in Corinth was planted.

Paul was frustrated and ready to move along. but in that moment God spoke to him. God gave him clear instructions to keep teaching. God promised him protection. For the next 18 months, the church grew and people came to faith.

For us, we get frustrated and wanna give up sometimes. It becomes really hard as we look at our world around us that continues to attack us. Then we have a plan that we think is God’s plan and we get rejected. Then we turn around and God opens this door and says, here. This is where I want you. It becomes such a challenge to say ok, but there are blessings that will come.

Of course, the enemy will not give up and more challenges will arise. I’m going to paraphrase and condense the next few passages for times sake. We will be here through lunch if I don’t. So here are verses 12-23.

The Jews come after Paul and the leaders of the church again. There’s a new procouncil or Judge. The judge wouldn’t charge Paul so they beat the ruler of the synagogue. Paul, Priscilla and Aquilla thought it best to move on. They go to Ephesus Priscilla and Aquilla stay there while Paul continues on his missionary journey.

In verse 24 the focus turns away from Paul and his Missionary journey to what happens with Priscilla and Aquilla in Ephesus.

Acts 18:24–28 ESV

24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

Now we are introduced to another preacher. Apollos. Now Apollos was from Alexandria, Egypt. He ended up there due to the disportion of the Jews. Apollos spoke very well. He knew Scripture as well as anyone.

There was only one problem. He didn’t have the full picture. He knew up to John the Baptist identification of Jesus and the message of repentance. However, there’s more to this story that Apollos needs to know and share.

Aquilla and Priscilla walk into the temple one day and hear Apollos speaking and reasoning that Jesus is the Christ. But as he is speaking they catch that something is missing from his message. What is important to see here i s that they didn’t stand in the middle of the Synagogue and call Apollos out. They didn’t go to the town square and condemn Apollos and say your should never listen to Apollos cause he doesn’t know anything.

This is one of my greatest complaints about the church today. Somebody goes astray in their logic and the next thing you know other pastors are attacking that minister. Scroll Christian content on youtube and you will come across some pastor saying that this other pastor is a false prophet or that you shouldn’t listen to this music because of what the lead singer decided to do.

I will be honest, it really upsets me when I hear these people condemning others instead of encouraging them. This isn’t done out of love for the individual. The individual either will never hear of the comments or will not have a change of heart because someone attacked them that doesn’t know them. What is worse is that it will likely cause them to harden their hearts in the ways that are mistaken. And worse yet, unbelievers will see these fights and say see, I told you Christian are hypocrites. When Christians tear down Christians in public forums it damages the testimony of the church.

Notice what Priscilla and Acquilla did. They pulled him to the side. They explained to him the ways of God more accurately. They befriended him. They had conversations with him. They loved on him.

As a result he was able to not only continue his ministry, but thrive in this ministry. He was able to take the Scriptures and show that Jesus was the Christ. That Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that Jesus rose from the grave. That His grace covers our sin.

Make no mistake, their response was directly out of Pauls teachings.

1 Timothy 5:1–2 ESV

1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

2 Timothy 2:14–17 ESV

14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

1 Corinthians 3:5–9 ESV

5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

1 Timothy 5:1–2 ESV

1 Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, 2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

2 Timothy 2:1–2 ESV

1 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy 2:14–17 ESV

14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

2 Timothy 4:1–5 ESV

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.