The Achaia Mission
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Please turn to Acts 17:16-18:22 as we consider The Achaia Mission.
I’ve recently finished reading Charles Dickens’ classic novel The Tale of Two Cities. Sad to say, my reading (other than for the Bible) does not often include such classics of literature. Though our text has nothing to do with Dickens’ book, I was reminded of the title as I was thinking about Paul’s missionary adventure into the region of Achaia for, he focused his ministry on two distinctly different cities. Look at the map for a moment:
Let’s look first at
Paul’s Ministry in Athens
Paul’s Ministry in Athens
Athens was once the center of the Greek empire. It was in Athens that the great philosophers roamed. Men such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and a whole host of other philosophers. By the time of Paul’s day Athens was merely a shadow of what it once was. While it was still considered the cultural and intellectual center of the Roman Empire, Corinth had become the commercial and political center of Greece.
While the city had lost much of its former glory, they still loved intellectual pursuits. Luke testifies to this in his parenthetical statement found in Acts 17:21:
(Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Because of the persecution that arose in Berea, Paul was sent to Athens alone. His partners in ministry, Silas and Timothy, had stayed behind in Berea to help build the foundation for this newly formed church. To the best of my recollection this is the first time in Paul’s journeys in which he has been without a companion in ministry. Though it appears that Paul was flying solo during his entire ministry in Athens, 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2 tells a different story.
As we consider Paul’s time in Athens, we will consider what Paul saw, felt, did, and said.
What Paul Saw
What Paul Saw
Look at Acts 17:16.
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
Paul, as a tourist may have seen the various sights around town from Greek antiquity:
The acropolis — an ancient citadel
The agora with its many porticoes — translated market place
Paul, the Christian Jew did see the horrendous idolatry of the city for the city was full of idols — it was swamped by idols
A Roman satirist once stated that it was easier to find a god (in Athens) than a man
So, what Paul saw was a city submerged in its idols. Let’s consider next
What Paul Felt
What Paul Felt
Look again at Acts 17:16
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.
Because this place was drowning in idolatry Paul felt provoked
The term translated “provoked” means to irritated or roused to anger
This has to do with a Godly jealousy or a righteous indignation
Let’s look next at
What Paul Did
What Paul Did
Look at Acts 17:17.
So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.
Paul reasoned with all who would hear him
As was his custom he reasoned with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue
explaining
proving
proclaiming
He reasoned with the Gentiles in the market place
Let’s look at Acts 17:18 as we consider Paul’s reception in the market place:
And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What would this idle babbler wish to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.
The Epicureans seem to be the practical atheists of that day -- they thought God was not interested in the affairs of man. They appear to have been hedonistic, living for the pleasure of the moment.
The Stoics rejected the idolatry of pagan worship and taught that there was one “World God.” They were pantheists, and their emphasis was on personal discipline and self-control. Pleasure was not good and pain was not evil.
Both groups thought Paul to be strange
“Idle babbler” refers to one who makes his living picking up scraps
In other words, they thought Paul was an amateur philosopher as opposed to the real philosophers of Athens
Other thought Paul was speaking about some strange deities
Jesus
Anastasis (the Greek term for resurrection may have been viewed as being the name of a goddess)
The philosophers took Paul to the Areopagus so they could hear more of this strange new teaching
Let’s look now at
What Paul Said
What Paul Said
Let’s look at Acts 17:22-23 as we consider Paul’s opening remarks.
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.
You are very religious
You are very ignorant
Let’s me explain to you that which you are ignorant about
Look at Acts 17:24-29 as we consider the body of Paul’s message.
The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.
This unknown God is the Creator of the world
He is Master of all
He needs nothing from anyone since He is the One who gives life to all
He made from one man every person and nation
His sovereignty evens extends to national boundaries
He made man so that man would seek and find Him
Apart from Him man would not exist
Man should worship God and not manmade objects
Let’s look at Acts 17:30-31 as we consider Paul’s application.
Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
God has endured man’s sinful rebellion for a long time
God is calling all to repent
Because a day of judgment is coming
A Judge has been appointed
God has verified this appointment by raising this judge from the dead
Let’s look at Acts 17:32-34 as we consider the outcome of Paul’s message.
Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.” So Paul went out of their midst. But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Three reactions
Some mocked him for believing in the resurrection of the dead — probably the Epicureans who believed that matter was evil and spirit was good
Others wanted to hear from Paul again at a later date
Some embraced the message of the gospel and were saved
Some have concluded that Paul did not have an effective ministry in Athens. But you know what — he was not persecuted in anyway. He wasn’t asked or ordered to leave the city. And he may have stuck around for a much longer time than the narrative leads us to believe. Compared to the persecution Paul had faced everywhere he went in Macedonia, this may have felt like a vacation for him.
Let’s turn our attention now to the second city in Paul’s Achaia Mission as we look at
Paul’s Corinthian Ministry
Paul’s Corinthian Ministry
Still apparently ministering alone, Paul took his leave of Athens and went to Corinth. Look again at the map.
Corinth was the leading political and commercial center in Greece. It was located at a strategic point on the isthmus of Corinth, which connected the Peloponnesian peninsula with the rest of Greece. Virtually all traffic between northern and southern Greece had to pass through the city. Being a trade center, the city had an unsettled population – in regards to morals, it was completely debauched.
As we consider Paul’s time in Corinth, we will look at his recruits in ministry, the rejection of the Jews, the redirection to the Gentiles, the reassurance from Christ, and the refusal of Gallio.
The Recruits in Ministry
The Recruits in Ministry
Look at Acts 18:1-4.
After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
Aquila was from Pontus (see map)
He and his wife Priscilla were kicked out of Rome
It’s possible that it was Christian Jews who were expelled from Rome and not just every Jew
The Message of Acts a. Paul Stays with Aquila and Priscilla (18:2–6)
Suetonius referred to this in his Life of Claudius (25:4): ‘as the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus (impulsore Chresto), he banished them from Rome’. The people expelled he called ‘Jews’, but ‘Chrestus’ seems to mean Christ (the pronunciation of ‘Christus’ and ‘Chrestus’ will have been very similar), in which case the Jews were Christians and the disturbances in the Jewish community had been caused by the gospel.
Therefore it is possible the this couple were already Christians
They practiced the same trade as did Paul — tent-making
Paul moved in with them and they worked together — and when he wasn’t engaged in making tents, he was engaged in reasoning with the Jews in the Synagogue on Saturdays, and engaged with reasoning with Greeks on other days
Eventually Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth, this allowed Paul to take a break from tent-making and to engage his full energy into the ministry of the word — presumably with the primary focus being on the Jews
The Rejection of the Jews
The Rejection of the Jews
Let’s look at Acts 18:6.
But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Just as a football defense resist the efforts of the opposing teams offense to move the ball down the field, so the Jews in the synagogue resisted Paul’s testimony about Jesus being the Christ
Luke informs us that in their attempts to resist the teaching of Paul the Jews blasphemed
The sense evidently is, that they reproached and vilified Jesus of Nazareth; they spake of him with contempt and scorn.
The Redirection to the Gentiles
The Redirection to the Gentiles
Look once again at verse Acts 18:6
But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Because of the Jews rejection of the gospel, Paul redirected his ministry to the Gentiles. Of course, being an apostle to the Gentiles it was his charge to bring the gospel to them. And yet his custom was to bring the gospel to the Jew first and then the Gentile.
Look at Acts 18:7-11.
Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Paul had a fruitful ministry to the Gentiles
Even the leader of the synagogue embraced the gospel
The Reassurance from Christ
The Reassurance from Christ
Look at Acts 18:9-11.
And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Warren Wiersbe, in his commentary on Acts pointed out how Paul was fulfilling the Great Commission in Corinth.
First, he was obedient to the directive to go and make disciples (vs. 7-8)
Second, he was baptizing the disciple that were being made (vs. 8)
Third, he was teaching and instructing them in the ways of God (vs. 11) — he was in Corinth for a full year and a half!
Fourth, he had the promise from Christ that He was with him always (vs. 10)
The Refusal of Gallio
The Refusal of Gallio
Look at Acts 18:12-17.
But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” And he drove them away from the judgment seat. And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.
The Jews in Corinth thought that they could take advantage of the appointment of a new proconsul in Achaia (The Jews in Jerusalem used the same tactic later on in the Book of Acts)
Their claim was that Paul was persuading people to worship God in a way that was against the law of Moses
Just as Paul was getting ready to make his defense the proconsul dismissed the charge since it was a matter of religion and not a matter of crime
The outcome was that Gallio turned a blind eye to the Gentiles who began beating the leader of the synagogue
Interesting enough, this man, Sosthenes, who represented the synagogue when it brought charges against Paul, later became a believer according to
Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,
This second missionary journey of Paul ends with the apostle leaving Corinth along with Priscilla and Aquila and sailing to Ephesus. See the map.
After a brief visit to the synagogue he leaves Priscilla and Aquila in this city, and makes a promise to return if God should allow him to do so. Then he journeyed back to Jerusalem and greeted the church. And then returned to his sending church in Antioch.
During the time of this second missionary journey we’ve seen that our plans, or agendas, are not always in sync with God’s plans. And when the happens we need spiritual discernment to get in sync with God.
We’ve also seen that we need to be faithful to spread the message of the gospel even in the midst of opposition. Of course, to do so we need to be prepared to do so. It is the responsibility of the leadership of the church to prepare the congregation to do the work of the ministry. And it is the responsibility of the congregation to do the work of the ministry. Just as Paul wrote in
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
The promise that Christ made to the apostles about being with them as they spread the message of the gospel is true for us as well. May we be like Paul and company who had boldness in God to proclaim the gospel of God to those who need to hear it.
Let’s pray.
Closing Song: #730
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus