Paul strengthens the church and we are introduced to Priscilla and Aquila who strengthen a zealous preacher in Christ, Apollos.
Acts 18: Paul in Corinth
1 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.
Paul Returns to Antioch
18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
21 But on taking leave of them he said, "I will return to you if God wills," and he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus
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 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.
Things to think about…
1. Paul no doubt needed some encouragement in his ministry at times. In this instance it comes in the form of Priscilla and Aquila, Acts 18:1-3. They were not only Jews like Paul, by also were of the same trade – they were tentmakers. All were being persecuted at the time as well. The Lord sends along people at just the right time to encourage us and help us share in the work of the gospel. For Paul not only were this couple Jews and tentmakers, most importantly they were mature Christians who had had similar stories of both persecution and blessing.
2. While Paul says ‘From now on I will go to the Gentiles’, Acts 18:6. Even so, he still visits the synagogue at Ephesus, Acts 18:19. But there does seem to be a change of focus. He spends more time strengthening the disciples within the churches he had established, vs 23. Evangelism must never be done in isolation to discipleship and vice versa. Fellowship and outreach are both required within the body of Christ. It’s important to keep both of these in focus, this is why within the church’s vision statement it says that we desire to be a ‘church community’ as well as having ‘intentional outreach’.
3. One wonders what happened to Crispus who was the Synagogue ruler initially, Acts 18:6 after he believed. It seems during the 18 months of Paul’s stay a new ruler was appointed, Sosthenes, Acts 18:17, but even Sosthenes had a hard time in the position, being beaten by the mob. Paul stays with Titius Justus who lives next door to the synagogue, after many at the synagogue refused to believe Paul’s message about Jesus. Our Lord Jesus encourages Paul by saying that He has many people in the city of Corinth, Acts 18:9, 10, and to not be afraid, but to keep on preaching. This is the situation for all in Christian ministry. In a day when we are assaulted with liberalism, identity politics, transgender agendas, cultural Marxism and unbelief, Christ still stands as a beacon of hope and salvation. Our calling is to continue to lift the cross and receive the promise that he will draw to Himself, John 12:32.
4. Paul receives an encouraging word from the Lord, Acts 18:9, 10 at just the right time. If this is not happening to us for some reason, then the likelihood is that we are simply not listening to Him. As we read His word, we find it dwells in us more richly and we hear the voice of the Lord more clearly… and more often. He lifts the downcast, even when all fall away His promise is that He will never leave us or forsake us, Dt 31:6; Heb 13:5. Amen.
5. Paul begins his missionary loop from Ephesus (modern day southern Turkey) then over to Caesarea in Israel, the up to (say down in Acts 18:22) Antioch and then Galatia and Phrygia in the middle of modern day Turkey. Paul was a tireless evangelist. The Lord had equipped him to be single minded in the gospel. May we be given the same single mindedness in our calling.
6. Apollos is an interesting character, Acts 18:24-28. He is described as being ‘competent in the scriptures’ and taught ‘accurately the things of Jesus’ yet he only knew ‘the baptism of John’, vs 25. This probably means that he had witnessed John’s ministry of baptism and saw or heard about some of Christ’s ministry but did not have a complete knowledge of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. He possibly taught some of the things that Jesus did as part of His earthly ministry but could not expound on the most important part – the crucifixion and the resurrection. Can you imagine how his mind was opened up to the scriptures – which he already knew well, when Priscilla and Aquila taught him and ‘explained to him the way of God more accurately’, vs 26. Apollos would have been a powerhouse for the Lord from this point on as vs 28 confirms. This was how Paul could say at some point in the future to the Corinthians that ‘I planted, Apollos watered’, 1Cor 3:6. Priscilla and Aquila were wonderful examples of Christ to Apollos. Praise God for the many godly men and women in the church who teach others more accurately about the things of the Lord.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Prayer points
1. Pray for Iran and the overthrow of a wicked regime.
May the Iranian people see the prophesy of Jer 49:34-39 fulfilled over the coming weeks and months.
2. Pray for the Sacred Minds podcast – starting to come online.
3. Pray for One for Israel and their witness in this time of challenge and conflict.
4. Pray for the church in Australia that it focuses on Christ, His Word and holiness.
5. Pray for our leaders in Australia that they press in closer to Christ.
6. Pray the influence of Russia and China is minimised militarily.
7. The Royal Commission that the Jewish people will feel safe in Australia.
8. Conflict zones- Israel, Iran and Ukraine
9. Pray for new people to step into ministries at CBC – eg worship, café, sound/technical, giving, podcast.
10. Reform and Revival over our city and country.
11. Finances to cover our needs
12. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to increase.
Praise Points
1. Praise God for the Lord’s blessing over our Easter services
2. Baptisms in Australia over the Easter weekend
3. Praise God for ministries – Life Groups, Prayer meetings, Kids@Church
4. Café team every week. Thankyou to all those who serve and bring food. Especially Fiona, Maddie and Suzy and those who supply it every week Eg Ros - Milk.
5. Worship, Admin and Technical teams – Peter, Nita, Brendon, AJ, Suzy, Maddie, Mathys, Doug.
6. Kids Church teachers – Jacqueline, Maddie, Elise, Anastacia and Fiona
7. The Lord’s faithfulness this year to CBC and all who have served in ministries
8. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Easter Sunday 5th Apr – 9:30am – Kids activities while the message is on.
2. Prayer meeting Wed 5:30pm at church. Life group begins at 6:30pm. Going through the book of Romans.
3. All Life Groups - Wednesdays.
4. Kids@Church especially our Easter program.
5. Mothers Day High tea celebration – Saturday morning, May 9th at Church.
6. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
7. Tune in again this week on our YouTube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for April...
Q. 7. What is meant by the Atonement? A. Christ satisfying divine justice, by his sufferings and death, in the place of sinners.
