Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien
August 4, 2024
INTRO
We are continuing through the book of Acts, and today we are going to take a trip together. Today’s passage is going to take us on a journey of over 2000 miles by land and sea over the course of multiple years.
Do you remember where we’ve been so far? (SLIDE 2) Over the last couple chapters, Paul and his companions have traveled from Antioch all the way to Athens. Now they arrive in Corinth (SLIDE 3), and after spending 18 months there, Paul is going to head back to Antioch, a journey of more than 1000 miles (SLIDE 4), and along the way we see the multiplication of the church’s work to bring the good news about Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Open with me to Acts 18:1-28 (SLIDE 5, title). We’re going to take this journey together from city-to-city round the Mediterranean, and as we watch the early church’s ministry unfold in this passage, we are going to learn three important lessons about the mission of the church: (SLIDE 6)
God advances the gospel in all kinds of ways.
God vindicates the gospel in the face of all kinds of opposition.
God spreads the gospel through all kinds of people.
Let’s read. READ Acts 18:1-28.
MAIN 1 — God Advances the Gospel in All Kinds of Ways (vv. 1-5). (SLIDE 7)
Go to verse 1. Let me tell you about the city of Corinth (v. 1)
(SLIDE 8) Corinth was the administrative capital of the Roman province of Achaia. Two ports facing two different seas in the east and west. It also had a major road traveling north to south. It was at the cross-roads of trade, and therefore was the leading economic center of the Greek world.
At its peak, it had a population of over 750,000 people!
It was also a center of entertainment, licentiousness, and sexual promiscuity. It was like the San Francisco of the ancient world.
Look at verse 2. God had a plan when Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome: Aquila and Priscilla met Paul! (SLIDE 9) (v. 2)
Remember: Who is the main character in the book of Acts? God!
Paul ministers as a tentmaker (vv. 3-4). (SLIDE 10)
Explain “tentmaking ministry” today.
ILLUST — One of the most famous examples of this approach is William Carey. (SLIDE 11)
Carey was born in 1761 in Paulerspury, England, into a family that were weavers by trade.
He was an inquisitive child, with a particular interest in the natural sciences, especially botany. He also was a master at languages, teaching himself Latin, Hebrew, Italian, Dutch, and French while apprenticing as a cobbler. (SLIDE 12)
At age 21, he married Dorothy Plackett, and shortly after was befriended by some Baptist ministers who began mentoring him and equipping him to serve in the local church. They introduced him to a book by Jonathan Edwards entitled The Account of the Life of the Late Rev. David Brainerd in which Carey learned about Brainerd’s missionary work among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey, and he was enthralled with the call of missions and evangelism.
Then at 28 years old, he became the pastor of Harvey Lane Baptist Church in Leicester, and it was during this time that he wrote his now famous little book (SLIDE 13) An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens. Not exactly a title that plays well today, but none-the-less, this was a highly influential book in the late 1700s.
In this book, Carey argued that the Great Commission in Matthew 28 is still binding on Christians, he gave a history of missions activities from the early church to the present-day, he listed 26 pages of tables, charts, population data, and religious statistics for every country in the world, he addressed common objections to global missions, and he argued for the formation of a Baptist missions society that focused on tentmaking ministry as its primary philosophy.
Shortly after, the Baptist Missionary Society was launched in 1792 and it continues to operate today, 232 years later, in 30 countries in 4 continents.
Carey himself answered the call to global missions the next year, and in 1793 his family traveled to Calcutta, India. (SLIDE 14) Carey worked as a manager at an indigo factory while translating the New Testament into Bengali and doing evangelism with anyone who would listen.
Due to opposition from the British East India Company, Carey and his family had to move to another city called Serampore where they set up a theological school to train indigenous pastors and used a printing press to support their missions activities.
Carey took a role as a professor of languages (SLIDE 15), writing grammars of Bengali and Sanskrit, producing textbooks and dictionaries that served as the primary tools for a public education system that Carey founded that taught both boys and girls regardless of their caste in a time when this was unthinkable.
He also started the Agri Horticultural Society of India and became the caretaker of the city’s botanical garden, even having a flower genus named after him, the Careya.
While supporting his missions work through his passions of language and botany, he launched Sunday school programs where he taught children to read using the Bible as their textbook. (SLIDE 16) Reaching Hindu people in India was a huge challenge, but he saw God do incredible things. He and his colleagues creatively supported their evangelism and church planting efforts through all kinds of marketplace ministries.
Carey served for 41 years in India, with over 700 people coming to faith through his work, and he pioneered a model of tentmaking ministry that paved the way for generations of missionaries to come.
It was Carey who coined this phrase: “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.”
Like the Apostle Paul, that can be done with tentmaking, but we also see Paul dedicate himself as a full-time minister.
Paul ministers as a full-time preacher (v. 5). (SLIDE 17)
Explain “vocational ministry” today.
Cf: 1 Timothy 5:17-18 — “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.” (quotes from Deut 25:4 and Luke 10:7)
MAIN 2 — God Vindicates the Gospel in the Face of All Kinds of Opposition (vv. 6-17). (SLIDE 18)
But suddenly there is a problem. (SLIDE 19) The Jews in Corinth abusively opposed Paul (v. 6). Why?
Explain how hard it was for Jews to accept Gentile salvation by grace through faith. For rule-followers, the gospel can be threatening. It was also hard to accept the theology of the incarnation and resurrection.
Paul’s words here in verse 6 remind me of the instructions Jesus gave when he sent out the 12 disciples. (SLIDE 20) Matthew 10:5-20 says, “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
We see this tension coming through in Acts 18. Verses 7-8 tell us about the fruit of Paul’s preaching, even in the midst of severe opposition. Some believe and are saved, while many others are angry and reject. Remember what I said last week: This is normal!
Here’s the turning point: Paul receives a vision (vv. 9-11). (SLIDE 21)
(SLIDE 22) Do not be afraid — the church doesn’t act out of fear.
(SLIDE 23) For I am with you — we have God’s presence!
(SLIDE 24) No one is going to attack or harm you — God will protect his people.
RESULT: Paul stayed for 18 months!
And here’s the culminating moment: Paul is dragged before the governor of the province of Achaia and suddenly Paul’s ministry seems to be hanging in the balance.
IMPORTANT — Did you notice what happens? Look closely at verse 14. READ v. 14a.
“Just as Paul was about to speak…”
This is no accident. Remember: Who is the main character of the book of Acts? God!
God is so in control of this situation that Paul doesn’t even give a defense. God vindicates the message of the gospel, namely that salvation is for ALL people as a free gift. It is by grace through faith, and this message is threatening to people who think they are good enough for God, who think they are “insiders”, who think they have earned something.
KEY: In every way, the whole situation is flipped upside down:
Paul doesn’t speak to the judge; the judge defends Paul!
Paul doesn’t receive a punishment; Sosthenes receives the beating!
MAIN 3 — God Spreads the Gospel Through All Kinds of People (vv. 18-28). (SLIDE 25)
Here’s where we begin the 1000 mile journey with Paul.
(SLIDE 26) He sails from Corinth to Ephesus with Aquila and Priscilla (they stayed in Ephesus).
(SLIDE 27) He sails from Ephesus to Caesarea.
(SLIDE 28) He walks to Jerusalem.
(SLIDE 29) He walks to Antioch.
(SLIDE 30) He walks throughout Galatia and Phyrgia.
Meanwhile, a new missionary comes on the scene: A north African Jew from Alexandria named Apollos (vv. 24-28). (SLIDE 31)
(SLIDE 32) He was well educated.
(SLIDE 33) He knew the Scriptures well.
(SLIDE 34) He spoke about Jesus with great fervor.
Aquila and Priscilla met him in Ephesus and invited him to their home to learn more fully the way of God. It was through their influence that Apollos likely gained a desire to go to Achaia. Remember, Achaia is the province where Corinth is located; it was where Paul and Aquila and Priscilla ministered together for 18 months. It is likely that Aquila and Priscilla told him about the great need in Corinth.
And so the believers in Ephesus became a sending church. They commissioned him to go! Look at the map again. (SLIDE 35) We’ve come full-circle!
When he arrived, he took up where Paul left off, even enhancing the effectiveness of the ministry (v. 28).
IMPORTANT: God is now using Aquila and Priscilla to teach Apollos, and the work is multiplied! God uses all kinds of people! (SLIDE 36, blank)
But we know later that some issues arose in the church in Corinth.
Cf. 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 — “I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
KEY: Paul isn’t the center of attention any more than Apollos is the center of attention. Jesus Christ is the center! The gospel is the center!
Just listen to what Paul writes later in this same letter in 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 — (SLIDE 37 and 38) “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
Can you see Paul’s heart coming through? He loves them! He humbly wants to serve them! He knows it is only God’s power that works in people’s lives. Yes, he uses people. But we are servants to each other in the church, not saviors! There is only one Savior!
APPLY
Here’s what we learn in our passage today as we live together as a church family and work toward God’s mission for our church:
First — God will advance the gospel through “official” ministry programs, and he will also advance the gospel through the daily activities and daily witness of each of us in our workplaces, in our homes, in our neighborhoods, and in every relationship he had given us.
Second — God will vindicate the gospel in the face of whatever this world throws at us. There is a lot of division today. We are in an incredibly difficult political season. We are seeing the church marginalized in our culture. And we are often facing the ridicule of family and friends as we try to remain faithful to Jesus.
Remember what the Lord said to Paul:
Do not be afraid — the church doesn’t act out of fear.
For I am with you — we have God’s presence!
No one is going to attack or harm you — God will protect his people.
Third — God will spread the gospel through all kinds of people. That means you and me. That means refugee tentmakers like Aquila and Priscilla. That means educated people like Apollos. That means young people like Timothy. That means every background, every age, every skill level, and every temperament. You are a part of God’s work!