Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20130210.htm

DISCIPLING DIFFICULT RELATIVES AND PRODIGALS
Part II: Adjusting Profitably To God's Assigned Ministry Of Confrontation
(Acts 18:5-18)
  1. Introduction
    1. Discipling difficult relatives and prodigals, as it was with Victorian era Western missionaries who reached Third World peoples, humanly invites relationship conflicts due to differences in language and culture.
    2. However, spiritual conflicts are to be expected for the godly in an ungodly world, John 15:19.
    3. Thus, God wants the believer to hold his ground if he faces spiritual confrontation in ministry to difficult relatives and prodigals, and Paul exampled this in Acts 18:5-18 for us as follows:
  2. Adjusting Profitably To God's Assigned Ministry Of Confrontation, Acts 18:5-18.
    1. We know from 1 Corinthians 10:32-33 that the Apostle Paul tried his human best not to be thoughtlessly offensive to Jews, Gentiles or the Church of God, for he self-sacrificially sought to be pleasant toward all men versus seeking his own human profit that others might be discipled.
    2. However, Paul's best effort to be pleasant still resulted in opposition from his countrymen, Acts 18:5-6:
      1. Having gone to Corinth, and upon the coming of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia to help him, Acts 18:5a KJV reports Paul was "pressed in the spirit" to testify to the Jews, a better translation being Paul "could devote himself completely to" ( sunecho, Theol. Dict. of the N. T., vol. VII, p. 883) preaching.
      2. Now, Paul's actions were definitely not thoughtlessly confrontational: in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 he testified that his initial preaching among the Corinthians had not been marked with "eloquence or superior wisdom" (1 Corinthians 2:1 NIV) and "wise and persuasive words" (1 Corinthians 2:4 NIV), but that he ministered "in weakness and fear, and with much trembling" (1 Corinthians 2:3 NIV).
      3. Indeed, Acts 18:9-10 reports how the Lord had to give Paul a night vision at Corinth, encouraging him to speak and not be afraid as God was with him, and would protect him from the physical retaliations he had known earlier in his missionary travels (cf. Acts 14:19), for God had many people in Corinth who would respond affirmatively to the Gospel he preached.
      4. However, Acts 18:5b-6a NIV reports that upon testifying to his beloved countrymen, the Jews (Romans 9:1-3) there in Corinth that Jesus was the Messiah, they "opposed" (antitasso, Arndt & Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the N. T., 1967, p. 75) Paul and "became abusive" (blasphemeo, Ibid., p. 142 = "defame, injure the reputation of") toward him.
    3. As this confrontation was caused on the spiritual plane, not by any otherwise avoidable offense by Paul, he reacted to it in God's will by holding to his stance for the sake of the Gospel truth, Acts 18:6b,c,d, 7:
      1. Paul shook out (ektinasso, Ibid., p. 245) his clothes, an act in this context of Jewish onlookers that was "a gesture protesting innocence" (Ibid.) on Paul's part, Acts 18:6b.
      2. He then said that the blood of his Hebrew hearers would be on their own heads (Acts 18:6c), a Hebrew expression that assigned one's future demise to be the result of his own sin, cf. Ezekiel 18:13.
      3. Paul further stated he would go to the Gentiles (Acts 18:6d), and he left his opposing countrymen to enter the house of Justus who worshipped God, and whose house was next to the synagogue, Acts 18:7.
    4. Paul never relented this stiff stand against his Hebrew opponents at Corinth, either: Acts 18:11 reports he continued in the city for another eighteen months, teaching the Word of God among believers.
    5. This continued effort was eventually met by his Hebrew foes with charges being brought against Paul before Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, Acts 18:12-13; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Acts 18:12.
    6. Paul was about to respond to these charges when Gallio dismissed the case, claiming the matter involved controversies within the Hebrew religion over which he had no jurisdiction or interest, Acts 18:14-16.
    7. Accordingly, Paul stayed in Corinth a great while longer, continuing to minister the truth, Acts 18:17-18.
Lesson: Though Paul tried his human best not to be offensive to his fellow countrymen, when they wickedly resisted his beliefs, he saw it as a spiritual conflict issue, and stood his spiritual ground.

Application: When we seek to be humanly non-offensive to difficult relatives or prodigals, but they resist our spiritual stand, we must view this conflict as a spiritual one and not back away from our stand for the sake of the truth! We must look to God for guidance and encouragement like Paul did in receiving Christ's vision that he continue to minister amid ongoing opposition from his countrymen!