Now turn once again in your Bible
to Acts chapter 18. We have in this chapter
the end of Paul's second trip and the beginning of his third. And we find here that he is first
coming to the city of Corinth. Also, he comes the first time
to the city there in Ephesus and to those to whom God sent
him to preach. Now, we know from reading the
record of Scripture that everywhere that Paul was sent, he was sent
by the sovereign purpose of God. And he was sent by God on purpose
with a purpose. And that purpose was to set forth
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in another
place, He said, I'm determined. When I came to you, I came not
with excellency of speech or wisdom, the wisdom of men, but
He said, I came declaring unto you the testimony of God, determining
not to know anything among you but the Lord Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Now we know here, down in verse
11 of chapter 18, that Paul continued there a year and six months doing
nothing but teaching the Word of God. And God was pleased to
save a multitude of sinners, a multitude of His people that
He had chosen in that covenant, that the Lord Jesus Christ came
and died for those covenant people, and in time He sent them the
message of Christ. granted them life, gave them
faith to believe God. Faith is the gift of God. And
He called them unto this fellowship, being one with the Lord Jesus
Christ. God raised up in this city of
Corinth. God raised up and God established
a gospel witness. A gospel witness in this pagan
city. How was all that done? It was
done by His purpose. This is the Lord's doing. It is God's doing that He establishes
churches where He does. Where He does. In Ashland, over
in Dingus, in Lexington, Danville, Pikeville, different places.
The Lord establishes a gospel witness as He is pleased to do
so. And then He uses that ministry
to call out His sheep. unto himself. And Paul continued
there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them. Now in verse 12, Acts 18 verse
12, and when this happened, when this man Galileo was deputy or
the governor of this region of Corinth, Achaia, the Jews made
an Insurrection with one accord against and notice how this is
said here with one accord against Paul Now they were against his
message They were against what he set forth in the scripture
that Jesus of Nazareth is the crime They were against Paul
with one accord and they brought him to the judgment seat and
they said this this Man, they couldn't think of a word here.
It's just a blank and Put in there whatever adjective you
think might fit. This low life, this vile man,
he persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the word of God. Now, here again is this repeated
opposition to the gospel of God's free grace and sovereign grace.
And notice again, it is at the hand of the Jews. Now these people were most, most
religious, were they not? These Jews, our Lord, hold your
place there, let's see if we can identify who these people
are. Turn to Luke chapter 16 verse 15, let's see if we can
identify who these Jews are. They called themselves with great
pride, we are the sons of Abraham. We'd be not sinners, we're the
sons of Abraham. Our Lord said, you of your father,
remember what He said, you of your father the devil, he was
a liar, and you believe his lie. Our Lord further described these
Jews in Luke 16, verse 15, He said, you or they would justify
yourselves before men. They thought they were justified
by what they did before men, that God knows your heart. for
that which is highly esteemed among men." That's an abomination
unto God. Do you think you're justified
by what you do or what you don't do? God said that's an abomination. That's evil before God. That's
who Paul suffered by their hand, the Jews made. And this word
here, insurrection, is a rage. And they were unanimous to put
an end to Paul's ministry. You see, my friend, the religion
of natural, sinful, wicked flesh cannot tolerate. Now, they can
tolerate a lot of things. They can tolerate a lot of religious
foolishness. But the religion of a natural
man cannot tolerate the way of grace alone. And you can talk
with religious people, you can have a lot of religious conversation,
until it comes to plainly establishing the way of salvation by grace
alone, faith alone, Christ alone, you'll have a battle on your
hands. And that's these people here. Over in verse 5 and 6,
it says that they opposed themselves. They spoke against the gospel. They spoke evil of Paul and of
the gospel. And I tell you the reason why.
Turn over here to Romans chapter 8, verse 7. Turn over there.
Romans 8, 7. Romans 8, 7. Here's the reason
why. Here's why the natural man and
the religion of the natural man is opposed to God. Romans 8,
7, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject
to the law of God. Neither can it be. So then, they
that are in the flesh cannot please God. The carnal mind is
what? Enmity against God. Here's another
reason why. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
2. Why did they get so upset with Paul? Because he said that
salvation is in Christ alone. Not in your rituals, not in your
sacraments, not in your feast days. Salvation is in Christ.
You see, he exposed their refuge of lies and they got mad. The
carnal mind is enmity against God. Here's another reason that
they rejected the gospel of God's grace. This is 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14. It says, "...the natural man
receiveth not." Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." It takes God to reveal
God. And that's what the Gospel does.
It shows us how God can be just and justify the ungodly. Now, back to our text, Acts 18. That's who made this insurrection,
this rage against Paul with one accord, and they brought him
to the judgment seat of men. Now, it says here that this rage
was against Paul. Who was it really against? I mean, they got at Paul, but
who was it really aimed at? They aimed at God, wasn't it?
They aimed at God Almighty. This rebellion was against God.
Now, turn to Psalm 2. Hold your place there and find
Psalm 2. And this is the response of the natural man left to himself.
It's not one of rejoicing, it's one of rage. Psalm 2, look at
this here. They were against Paul, but in
essence, they were against God. You see, this is God's ambassador
with God's message. Look at Psalm 2. Why do the heathen
rage? Verse 1. And the people imagine
a vain thing. It's talking about those people
there in Corinth. For the kings of the earth set
themselves, and the rulers take counsel against the Lord, against
His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands. Good by God. That's what they're saying here.
Good by God. Let us break their band of thunder. Let us cast
their cords from us. Now look at this. Does that disturb
our great mighty God? The rebellion of the puny, peanut,
grasshopper, worm, maggot of a creature? Is that going to
upset God? Look what he says. He that sitteth
in the heaven shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them
in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have
I set my king upon my holy hillside. And I will declare the decree
the Lord hath said unto me this day, Thou art my son, this day
have I begotten thee." Now, back to our text. You see, this rage
was vented at Paul, but in essence, it was against God. It was against
God. Look at verse 13, saying, here's
what they said, this person, this fellow, persuades man to
worship God, contrary, contrary. Now you see where it says there
in verse 13, this, this, and that word there, fellow, has
been added. This, whatever vile word you can think of and put
in there. That's what was going through their mind. But you know
what? This same thing was said of our blessed Savior, the Lord
Jesus. Turn to Matthew chapter 12. Same
thing here. Jesus is the same people. The
same fallen, sinful nature that all of us are plagued with. Right here. Matthew chapter 12. Look at this. Matthew 12. Verse
22. Then was brought unto him one
possessed with the devil. blind and dumb. And He healed
him in so much that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.
And all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the Messiah,
the Son of David? But when the Pharisees, these
same self-righteous Jews, heard it, they said, This... Look at
the word there. They couldn't think of words
vile enough. This fellow, doth cast out devils
by Beelzebub, the prince of devils." Now back to the text. They said
the same thing of our blessed Lord as they said of Paul, God's
faithful servant. Now notice their charge here.
Their charge is that Paul persuades men to approach God, to worship
God, in a way that's contrary to the very Word of God. Now,
their accusation had no teeth, their accusation had no power,
their accusation had no weight, because what the Apostle did,
as we have studied time after time after time, when he went
into the synagogue of the Jews, what did he take? He took the
very Word that they had been studying and he revealed unto
them the Gospel of Christ, as we see back in chapter 17. Turn
over there. Acts 17, 2. And Paul, as his
manner was, went in unto them three Sabbath days and reasoned
with them out of the Scriptures. He didn't teach anything contrary
to the Scriptures. He took their very word and preached
unto them, it says in verse 3, Acts 17, opening, alleging, presenting
that Christ must needs have suffered, risen again from the dead, that
this Jesus whom I preach unto you, He is the Christ." They
charged him falsely, didn't they? He didn't do things contrary
to the Word of God. Now hold your place here and
find another scripture in Acts chapter 26. Look over here. Acts chapter 26, verse 22. Here's his words before a king
named Agrippa. Acts 26, verse 22. Now here's
what he did, and this is what he did consistently. Acts 26,
verse 22. Having therefore obtained help
of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to the small
and to the great, saying no other things than those which the prophets
and Moses did say should come that Christ should suffer, that
He should be first raised, that He should be raised from the
dead and show life or salvation unto the people and to the Gentiles,
to His elect among the Jews and His elect among the Gentiles,
saying none of the things in that which Moses had already
said should come to pass." So their argument had no weight.
Now let me give you another example of this. Turn to Acts chapter
10. Acts chapter 10. Paul preached
that we should worship God according to the Scriptures. According
to the way of grace in Christ Jesus. Peter did the exact same
thing. He took the Word of God and preached
unto them Christ. Acts chapter 10. Acts chapter
10 verse 42. He commanded us to preach unto
the people. and to testify that it was He
which was ordained of God to be judge of the living and the
dead, to Him give all the prophets witness." All the prophets, beginning
at Moses, all the way through Zechariah, Malachi, they all
talk about Christ, the Lord Jesus. To Him give all the prophets
witness, that through His name, whosoever believeth in Him shall
receive remission of sins. Now let me give you another example
of this. Turn to Luke chapter 24. He didn't teach contrary
to the Word of God. He had taught to approach God
on the basis of Christ, who is the very Word of God Himself.
Our Lord did the same thing in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter
24 verse 25, Then He said unto them, O fool, slow of heart,
to believe all that the prophets have spoken, Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things and enter into His glory? And
beginning at Moses, do you reckon where he started? Genesis chapter
3, verse 15, the woman's seed that would bruise the serpent's
head. And all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the
Scriptures, now watch it, the things concerning Himself, Christ. See, the message of this book
is Christ and Him crucified. Salvation in the mediator that
God had sent, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ,
look back at the text. Their charge was that Paul told
us to approach God apart from the Word of God, apart from the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus came to honor
that law that we might have salvation upon the ground of justice being
satisfied. upon the ground of sin being
put away, upon the ground of righteousness being established
in Christ Jesus. You see, He came to redeem us
from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. Our Lord
said, I didn't come to destroy the law, I came to honor it.
And that's what He did. Now, look at verse 14 in our
text here. Acts 18, verse 14. Now, you've
got the picture here. Paul before this judge in this
courtroom. And the judge hears the accusation
against Paul. And when Paul was about to speak
in defense of himself, God at this point stopped him. Stopped
him. It's like, Paul, you just be
quiet, I'm going to handle things. Can't you see that here? Because
at other times Paul did speak, but here he says, When Paul was now about to speak,
this judge, Galileo, said unto the Jews, if it were a matter
of wrong, if it were against the Caesar or against the Roman
government or some wicked, immoral thing that he had done here in
the community, I would reason with you and I would bear with
you. But if it be a question of your
own words and names, of your own law, you look to it yourself. I want nothing to do with you. in such matters. You see, God
gave this man some wisdom to deal with these religious Jews. And he put them out. The Lord
intervenes. And he put them out. He drove
them out. He said, I'll have nothing to
do with you. Now look at verse 17. Here's
something interesting here. Then all the Greeks, these are
the unbelieving Gentiles in this city. They took this one who
was the chief one who stirred this whole city up, the chief
ruler of the synagogue, the chief Jew, having replaced Crispus
who was converted by the grace of God, this man to make a name
for himself and try to silence God's ambassador. He brought
him before the judge and look what happens. They beat him. They beat him before the judgment
seat. And Galileo, instead of stopping
it, you know what he did? To have that voice, he turned
his back. You see, old Sosthenes thought
he was going to bring Paul before the judgment seat and have him
punished. Who got the punishment? He did. He did himself. Sosthenes was beaten before the
judge. You remember the story in the
book of Esther? I did a message one time. some years ago. I think
there's ten chapters in the book of Esther. I brought one message
through that whole book. One message on ten chapters.
But the story in the book of Esther was about this man, wicked
Haman, remember? And how he sought to do God's
faithful servant Mordecai, he sought to do him in. And he went
so far as to accuse him falsely and wrongly And he built a gallow,
a place to be hanged. Haman was going to put an end
to Mordecai, to an end to those Jews, an end to the ministry.
And what happened? Haman was hanged on his own gallow. The noose that he fixed for Mordecai
went about his own neck. And how many like Haman? who
seek to destroy God's faithful servants like Mordecai, will
be hanged by their own wicked deeds before God." That'll teach
you something here. You remember what the Scripture
said about, "...touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets
no harm." Better be careful. God is God, and He's in charge
over all things. Now there's some good news here
about Sassanids. Turning your Bible to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Now, Sosthenes at one point was
a leader in this rebellion. This rebellion was put down by
God Almighty. And Sosthenes was beaten. I imagine
while he was being beaten, and while he was later recovering
from his wounds, I believe God worked on his heart. Because
look what it says right here, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Verse
1, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, he's writing
to this same group of people at Corinth. Called Paul an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God, the purpose of God, the
grace of God. And look who's there, Sophocenes. He's my brother. Oh, the power
of God's gospel. Here's a man that one time stood
toe-to-toe with Paul and counted him as an enemy. And now by the
grace of God, he stands face-to-face, and when he writes back to these
same believers, he says, Sosthenes, we'll receive him as a brother.
Tells us a couple of things here. One, the power of God's grace
and mercy. in saving this wicked man, Sosines,
but something else too. You reckon Paul could have said,
I'm going to get even with that guy one day. No, Paul forgave
him. He said, he's my brother. He
didn't say, you remember old Sosines, the man who intended
to have me beaten? He didn't. He forgot We're instructed
to love one another, and to forgive one another, even as God hath
forgiven you. Socines, oh, he's my brother. Isn't that sweet? That's the
gospel of God's grace. God saved him, God forgave him,
and Paul received him. And he wrote to these same Corinthians,
and he said to them, you receive him as a brother in Christ Jesus. That's how we receive one another,
as a brother, as a brother. Well, let's move on in our text
here. Back to Acts chapter 18, verse
18. And Paul, after this, well what
a story, after this, there yet a good while, he tarried there
after this, We don't know how long. And then he took his leave. He took his leave of the brethren.
And he sailed toward Syria. He's headed back to Jerusalem. But on his way, he stops by Ephesus. And he takes with him this couple,
Priscilla and Aquila. This couple who had been, remember
we read, they were driven out of Rome? And they came to Corinth? They were unbelievers at that
time, and Paul came to Corinth about the same time, and they
joined up, and they heard the gospel from the Apostle Paul,
and God saved them by His grace. And now they joined him, and
they sailed with him. Now, it says also in the last
part of verse 18, that Paul, he cut his hair. He shaved his
head in Sincrea, This is his port city, south of Corinth,
for he had a vow. He had a vow. Now, there's been
a lot of speculation. I've read all the different commentators
about this vow that Paul had made. Some think it was that
Nazarite vow that we studied about in the book of Numbers,
but I don't think so. I think this vow right here,
if you look at the word, the word is actually only used one
of the time in Scripture, and it's used in James chapter 5,
and the word here is prayer. Why do we need to... A lot of
people want to take this very instant here and show some kind
of weakness or defect in Paul. But he's simply here, why can't
we say that he had a prayer? That's what the Word is. He cut
his hair in a show of demonstration that he was thankful unto God
and he had a prayer. A prayer of gratitude for all
that had gone on in Corinth for a year and six months. A prayer
of gratitude that God had preserved him and cared for him and saved
him from being beaten and stoned as he was in other times. He
simply had a vow unto God. A vow of thanksgiving. You know
who else had a vow? Turn to Genesis, I believe it's
chapter 28. Yes, chapter 28. There was another sinner saved
by God's grace who made a vow. Look at Genesis chapter 28. Genesis
chapter 28, verse 20. You remember a man by the name
of Jacob? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Jacob here at Bethel, he had
a vow unto God. Verse 20, Genesis 28, And Jacob
bowed a bow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me
in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment
to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace,
then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which I have set
for a pillar shall be God's house, Bethel, house of God. And of
all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth
unto thee. He made a vow. And the apostle
made a vow, a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving unto God. Now I know this, look back at
the text there, again in Acts 18. I know this, that Paul didn't
make this vow to establish any measure of righteousness before
God, did he? Did he do this to impress God? or to establish a righteousness
before God, or to earn a certain favor before God? Well, that
would be contrary to all of His preaching, wouldn't it? We believe
through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved
even as others. Let's simply receive this as
it is here, a prayer unto God, a thanksgiving unto the Lord,
and make no more of it. Let's read on, verse 19. And he came to Ephesus. He came
to Ephesus. Now this is the first coming
of Paul to Ephesus, but it won't be the last. In chapter 19, verse
1, it came to pass, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having
passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding he
found some believers there. You know why he found some believers
there? Because when he first came to Ephesus, look what it
says in verse 19, he came to Ephesus and left them there,
that is Aquila and Priscilla, but he himself entered into the
synagogue, and here he's right back at preaching. He reasoned
with the Jews. Now he reasoned with them on
what basis? Thus saith the Lord, the Lord. And that's a good That's a good
place to reason with any person. It's not what my opinion is,
what my thought is, but what does God say? What does God say? Let's reason with one another
over the Word of God. And let's submit to the Word
of God and receive the Word of God as such. And that's what
He did here. And you know, the Lord blessed that. Look at verse
20. They desired Him to tarry long. They wanted to hear more
of Christ from the Word of God. They desired him to tarry long
time with them. And he said, I'd like to, but
I can't. I've got to move on. Verse 21. Look what this says here. Verse
21. He bade them farewell. Now Paul had a very close relationship
with these folks here. We're going to study about that
in chapter 20 when he leaves them the second time. and he
called them to himself, they embraced one another, they kissed
one another, they prayed together, they had a special kinship and
fellowship and union around the gospel of God's grace. He bid
them farewell, saying, verse 21, I must by all means keep
this feast that cometh in Jerusalem, and I will return Again to you,
now watch this phrase, and underscore this, if God will. God willing. That's something we ought to
use all the time. We're going to do this or we're
going to do that. The Lord willing. If God permits, we'll do this
thing. Now let me close with this thought here. He said, I must, by all means,
bearing no expense, I must keep this feast that comes to Jerusalem. Now he's not going down there
to observe the law. He's not going there to observe
this as a matter of salvation and righteousness before God.
But here's what he's doing. He's going there to Jerusalem
at this time of Passover. You know why? Who's going to
be in Jerusalem at the Passover? Many people. It was a time when
all the Jews from all that area, they concentrated together and
they came to Jerusalem to observe this feast. And you know what
the Apostle Paul did? When they were there observing
the Passover, he came and he preached to them. You know what
he preached to them? Let's see if we can read it.
Find 1 Corinthians chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. Here's what he preached to them.
1 Corinthians chapter 5. Now, you remember the story of
the Passover, don't you? When Israel was in bondage in
Egypt for all those years, and God sent all those plagues, and
the last plague, the death of the firstborn, and God told those
Israelites, He said, I'm going to pass through the land, I'm
going to judge the land, He said, take a lamb, put it up for 14
days, observe it, make sure it has no defect in it, and slay
the lamb, put the blood on the lentil and in the doorpost, and
God said, when I'm passing through, and when I see that sacrifice
of the lamb, I'll pass over you. Now, you know what, Paul, when
he went to the Passover, and they were observing the Passover,
here's what he preached to them, 1 Corinthians 5, Verse 7, "...Purge
out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as
ye are unleavened, saved in Christ. For even Christ our Passover
is slain, is sacrificed for us." You know that's why he wanted
to be there, to preach unto them and to use that as a platform,
as a springboard to preach Christ, our Passover. Christ, our sacrifice
before God. God made Him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. Well, I pray the Lord will bless
these words and these thoughts and cause us to think upon these
things and to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord willing, next
week we'll begin at verse 22 and following.