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And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ² And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³ And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴ And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶ And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. (ESV)

Although this chapter opens with the words, ”And it happened…’‘, the truth is that Paul eventually found himself in Ephesus because it was the will of God (see 18:21). This was no coincidence.

In the first place, Paul found some people there who were both ”disciples” and believers, but their understanding and experience were incomplete (a little like Apollos’s). Like him also, they showed a complete openness to receive new truth, and enter in.

‘Paul could not build a church on men with an inadequate spiritual experience, nor can we today.’ Warren Wiersbe

God brings good out of bad (9). Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was to have widespread repercussions; the ripples were to travel far and wide. He was about to enter a season of special, and unusual, blessing. ‘ People who had come in to worship at the shrine of Diana gave themselves to Christ, and the Christian faith became disseminated through the province, Ephesus itself being mightily moved.’ F.B. Meyer

PRAYER: ‘It is no secret what God can do’…Do it again Lord!

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. (ESV)

‘Apollos combined the eloquence of the Greek with the religious instinct of the Jew. A student from the great university at Alexandria, a convert to the gospel, deeply conversant with the Old Testament, gifted with marvelous eloquence, he was a strong ally of the Christian forces of his age. But he needed to know of the death, resurrection, and ascended power of Christ, and to experience the Pentecostal gift. Into all these he was led by Aquila and Priscilla. How wonderful is that holy wisdom which the Spirit of God gives to simple and humble believers, so that they can become teachers of men who are intellectually their superiors!’ F.B. Meyer

The Bible doesn’t actually say that Apollos was intellectually superior to Priscilla and Aquila, but it’s probably a fair inference to draw. It is certainly true that God has used simple, ‘ordinary’ saints to mentor those would become big names in the church. Certainly, in Corinth, Apollos’ name was to be up there with Paul and Peter’s (1 Corinthians 1:12). What a service Priscilla and Aquila performed for Apollos (and the wider church); and how teachable was Apollos. His openness to being taught led, it seems, to even greater, and more effective, ministry.

‘Aquila and Priscilla, husband and wife, appear several times in apostolic history and were important workers in the early church. They are always mentioned together because they were a team. Being Jews, they were expelled from Rome; as a result, they met Paul in Corinth and opened their home to him. Paul left them in Ephesus where they helped Apollos better understand the gospel (Acts 18:18-28). They returned to Rome where they had a church in their home (Rom.16:3-5). We do not know how they risked their lives for Paul; but their actions show how much they loved him. They were with Paul in Ephesus when he wrote 1 Corinthians (1 Cor.16:8,19), so perhaps it had something to do with the riot described in Acts 19. In his last epistle, Paul sent loving greetings to them (2 Tim.4:19). Every pastor is grateful to God for couples like Priscilla and Aquila whose hearts, hands and homes are completely given to the Lord.’ Warren Wiersbe

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. 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. (ESV)

So we see once more the by now familiar pattern of Paul seeking to preach the gospel to the Jews, and finding rejection. Yet not entirely, because there was significant ‘fruit’ to be had in Corinth (8).

The vision granted to Paul (9,10), must have greatly strengthened and encouraged him to press on (11). The Lord knows just what we need to hear, and when, and He is able to communicate this to us. He knows just where you are, in your ‘Corinth’ of opportunity and difficulty. and He is able to give you all you need.

Verse 10 points to the wonder of God’s sovereignty in conversion (see John 10:16). Yet people are still involved. We are workers together with God.

Gallio’s indifference to the treatment of Sosthenes serves as a warning to us: our hearts can become hard in the face of the world’s great suffering.

‘Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-4 , that he entered Corinth with fear and trembling and made no effort to attract by human wisdom or eloquence. From the first he preached “Christ and Him crucified.”

Similarity in trade discovered friends who were to be of the utmost assistance; nothing in our life may be attributed to chance…

Constrained in spirit, Acts 18:5 , r.v. The heart of the Apostle yearned with irrepressible desire. He was weary of forbearing. God’s word was as a fire in his bones. The guilty city appealed to him and tugged at his heartstrings. So Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Do we participate in this soul anguish? Are our hands free of the blood of men? Are we prepared to suffer if only we may save others?

Gallio was a typical man of the world, intent upon matters of law and order, philosophical and cultured. But when questions of religion were in debate, he was absolutely indifferent. How vast the contrast between him and Paul!’

 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. ²⁴ The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, ²⁵ nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶ And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, ²⁷ that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸ for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

²⁹ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰ The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

³² Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” ³³ So Paul went out from their midst. ³⁴ But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. (ESV)

For many years, Justin Brierly has been engaging winsomely in conversation with atheists, agnostics and other unbelievers. In doing so he has modelled a way to discuss spiritual issues with bravery, courtesy and respect. He has chosen to step out of any comfort zone, and fly the high wire without a net!

In Athens, Paul was in the thick of it. He went ”in the midst of the Areopagus” (22). He was not playing it safe. Look at the outcome in verse 34. There was ‘fruit’. Maybe not spectacular numbers of converts, but who can tell of the value of a single soul?

Michael Green wrote that in Christian witness we need to row our gospel boat around the island of a person’s life, and try to determine, ‘Where is the best place to put in?’ Paul found such a place in Athens. He started where they were (22,23). Paul’s point of departure was different when he was speaking just to Gentiles, but his destination was the same – Jesus (30,31).

‘The gospel preacher must avail himself of any circumstance in his surroundings that will enable him to arrest the attention of his audience. He must meet them where they are and take them with him to realms of thought with which they are not familiar. Paul was wise to begin with that altar to the unknown god.‘ F,B. Meyer

We hear in Paul’s words the truth that the gospel is for ”all people everywhere”. But mockery remains a reaction of many who say we believe fairy stories about an imaginary friend in the sky!(34). Whatever people say, none can evade the awesome reality of the Judgment.

‘The arrangements of divine providence have been contrived to lead men to God. If they feel after Him with reverence and true desire, He will be found of them. All men are His offspring, but only those who receive the Son of God into their hearts become really sons. Repentance is the act of the will, and therefore it may be commanded. God can overlook much that is hurtful and evil, because He loves the world and deals with men according to their light; and we may rejoice therefore that He will judge mankind by “the Man.”’ F.B. Meyer

¹⁶ Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. ¹⁷ So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. ¹⁸ Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. ¹⁹ And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? ²⁰ For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” ²¹ Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (ESV)

Paul may have been walking around Athens, but he was no tourist. I am challenged by the words in verse 16 that ”his spirit was provoked within him”. What, in my culture, ‘provokes’ me, and motivates me to preach the risen Lord Jesus?

We again note the place of ‘reasoning’ in Paul’s ministry. It has to be said that Christianity is intellectually satisfying; it makes sense of life in our pagan ‘Athens’, and it has solid evidence to back it up. Paul himself was a living-breathing piece of evidence. He had once hated this Jesus he now proclaimed – until, that is, he met Him personally.

Paul was given a platform in Athens. There was an openness to ideas in the city, although the people were generally shallow and superficial, and loved novelty.

‘How like our world today! The quest for novelty overshadows the search for reality.’ Warren Wiersbe

‘One purpose consumed the Apostle. One thing I do, was the thread on which the many beads of his experiences were strung. Persecuted and rejected today, he is at his favorite work tomorrow. How different this intense earnestness from the trifling of the so-called philosophers of Athens! The Epicurean made the pursuit of pleasure the main object of life. The Stoic, on the other hand, believed in the stern repression of nature. All Greece was absorbed in the cultivation of art, architecture, eloquence, and intellectual brilliance. But here, as everywhere, Paul had but one message-Jesus and the Resurrection. Oh, to be pressed in spirit, as he was, till our earnestness should compel our opponents to give us a serious hearing!’ F.B. Meyer

¹⁰ The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. ¹² Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. ¹³ But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. ¹⁴ Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. ¹⁵ Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. (ESV)

The word ”therefore” in verse 12 is important. Among the Bereans, there was a serious openness of heart to know the truth.

‘There are fair-minded people in every nation, and God knows who they are.’ Warren W. Wiersbe

‘True nobility consists in being open to any new truth that God may reveal to us from His Word. The one test of truth is Scripture as interpreted to the pure heart by the Holy Spirit; but we should examine the Scriptures daily as the Bereans did. It is not to be wondered at that many believed. If only our people would love the Bible, saturating their minds with it and teaching it to their children, what different results would follow the preaching of the gospel!’ F.B. Meyer

It is important that we listen to preachers and preaching with open hearts and open Bibles.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. ² And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, ³ explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” ⁴ And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. ⁵ But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ⁷ and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” ⁸ And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. ⁹ And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (ESV)

I remember a preacher observing that people, with their topsy-turvy sense of values may accuse us of turning the world upside down, but in truth we are, by God’s grace, turning it the right way up!

Proclamation of God’s truth is one of the primary ways the world is righted. Note the word ”reasoned” in verse 2. It’s a word that will appear repeatedly in coming chapters. There was a book entitled ‘The logic of the gospel’. Paul knew that the Christian faith is reasonable. One does not have to ‘commit intellectual suicide’ in order to be converted. Wouldn’t you have loved to have heard Paul’s expositions of Scripture? What insights this great Jewish scholar (now fully converted) must have had. Of course, we have a good sense of the breadth of his understanding from his many New Testament writings.

The ‘jealousy’ of the Jews, so often seen the gospels, reappears in ‘Acts’. Hardened hearts will not necessarily respond well to even the most clear presentations. But there will be those who are ”persuaded”(4), thanks be to God.

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. (ESV)

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.

As believers, eyes and ears are on us – perhaps more than we can imagine. Unconverted people are listening to our words (songs even) of testimony, and they are watching our lives. Not least, they sometimes get to see how we handle adversity. Paul and Silas had been unjustly treated, as verses 35 -39 show. They must have been in great pain and discomfort after their beatings. But ”About midnight…they were praying and singing hymns to God”. This whole episode in their lives shows God actively bringing good out of bad.

‘Paul did not use his Roman citizenship to protect himself from pain…but later he used it to protect the new church (vv.35-40). When you hurt ask God to give you songs in the night.’ Warren Wiersbe

‘Paul was perfectly justified in insisting upon his civil rights when he had the opportunity, Acts 16:37 . It made the way easier for his new converts.’ F.B. Meyer

Upon reading this passage, Jilly observed, ‘Things can change in a flash!’ Indeed they can. Many of our prayer ‘seeds’ seem to lie under the frozen earth during long, dark winter seasons, before we see their eventual ‘flowering’. But other miracles occur dramatically. Even as we pray, we find that Peter is at the door, and we can scarcely believe it!

Knowing something of these two men, we are not surprised by what we read in verse 40. In spite of their own sufferings, their hearts were to go and encourage the new church.

PRAYER: Lord, give me a heart to think of others before myself, and put their welfare first, regardless of what I may be facing.