Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10).
Paul preaches Christ in Thessalonica. His opponents gather a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attack the house of a man named Jason, where Paul was staying. At the end of the affair it is Jason, Paul, and the other brethren who are arrested and must post bond. Paul preaches Christ in Berea. The reception is a little better there; but when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul in Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. Paul preaches Christ in Athens. He wasn’t physically attacked by an angry mob but, when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, some were converted, and some said they wanted to hear more. Paul departed from among them.
In Corinth, the scene appears set to play out as it did in the other places. Paul preaches Christ in Corinth. He was compelled by the Spirit to do so, Scripture says, and he testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” This time, however, the risen Jesus tells Paul not to be afraid. He should keep speaking, “...for I am with you, and no one will attack or hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” And Paul does, for a year and a half. And the Jews bring Paul to the judgment seat of proconsul Gallio. They hope Gallio will assume Paul is advocating illegal religion and acting treasonously by telling people to pledge their allegiance to a king other than Caesar. They charge Paul with persuading men to worship God contrary to the law. Gallio wants no part of this religious dispute. He tells them to handle it amongst themselves and clears the court. Paul is saved; the one who takes the beating is Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue. The church steadily grows and becomes more firmly established through the bold proclamation of Christ crucified for our sins and risen from the dead; God the Holy Spirit, working as He wills, makes Christians in the face of ferocious opposition through His means of the external word of God.
Paul wasn’t surprised or disheartened when he was mocked, beaten, stoned, and imprisoned for preaching the Gospel. Scripture tells us he was compelled to preach by the Holy Spirit. He knew what the reaction would be. We also should know what the reaction of the pagan world will be to us as well. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came to His own and His own did not receive Him. Jesus taught His disciples that He was sending them out as sheep among wolves; that they would be delivered up to councils; that they would be scourged; that they would be brought before kings and governors for His sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. Jesus’ disciples, we included, will be hated by all for His name’s sake; but he who endures to the end will be saved.[1] The world hates us because it hated Jesus before us, and no student is above his master. They hate us because of the message we proclaim: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day; that by His atoning sacrifice, Jesus purchased and won me from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood, and by His innocent suffering and death. This message is foolishness to those who are perishing. The carnal mind cannot understand spiritual things.
Being dead in our transgression, we must be made alive by the working of God, through water and the Word. Being dead we must be born from above by water and the spirit. And even though the world may mock us, reject us, and even react violently toward us, we continue to bring them the Gospel, the message of the cross. It isn’t through the elegant turning of a phrase that God makes Christians out of non-Christians, as we see from Paul’s example; Christians are made through the preaching of the Gospel. We must not be afraid to boldly proclaim that Gospel to those around us, according to our vocation. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.[2]
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