Perhaps you’ve heard the word providence before. Providence refers to the fact that God is in control of all things, and He is working out His plan through all things.
Providence means that God is not only powerful, He is also active.
In today’s passage in Acts 18, we’re going to learn that God was providentially at work in the activities of Paul in the city of Corinth. God was powerfully and actively at work in Paul’s life and ministry.
Here’s what else we’re going to learn: God is also powerfully and actively at work in your life and ministry.
Today’s sermon is entitled “The Providence of God in Corinth.”
Before we go any further, let’s ask God to powerfully and actively speak to us through His Word.
(prayer)
Ok, we have a lot to cover in today’s sermon, so let’s jump right into it. We’re going to discover four ways that God’s providence was at work in Paul’s life and ministry while he was in Corinth.
First, we see . . .
I. God’s providence through new friends.
Let’s look at the passage together. First let’s look at verses 1-4:
1 After this, he left Athens and went to Corinth, 2 where he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, 3 and since they were of the same occupation, tentmakers by trade, he stayed with them and worked. 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
Ok, so you may recall from last week’s passage that Paul was in Athens. Now, he has made his way to Corinth.
While Paul was in Corinth, he made some new friends named Aquila and Priscilla.
We learn a few things about these new friends:
First, as Paul was, they were Jewish.
Second, as Paul was, they were tentmakers by trade.
Third, we learn that they were kicked out of Italy by the Roman ruler, Claudius, who wanted all the Jews out of Rome.
Fourth, we learn that they allowed Paul to stay with them in their home.
We’re not precisely sure why they allowed Paul to stay with them, but it’s likely due to the fact that they shared their religious connection and their occupational connection. They worshiped the same God and they worked the same job.
So, the Lord worked it out for Paul to live with them.
Listen to what happened in verse 4:
Paul was teaching in the synagogue.
The ministry that Paul was accomplishing was made possible because he found this new friendship in Aquila and Priscilla.
Listen, church: this was not by accident. The Lord God of the universe providentially worked this out so that Paul would have a base of ministry and means of provision while he was there in Corinth.
We see God’s providence through new friends.
Also, we see . . .
II. God’s providence through old friends.
Look at verses 5 and 6:
5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. 6 When they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Paul’s old friends, Silas and Timothy, arrived in Corinth and it unleashed a different level of ministry in Paul.
Apparently, Paul really relied on Timothy and Silas for support, including potential monetary support from the other churches in the ancient world.
Notice what it says in verse 5. When Silas and Timothy arrived, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word.
You get the sense that he poured himself full-time into preaching the word.
No more tent-making for a while; Paul was all-in.
He had the support of his old friends Silas and Timothy.
Listen, church: God providentially brought about this moment. God was ready to turn things up, so He led Paul into this next phase of ministry in Corinth.
Notice how some of the people reacted. Verse 6 says that some “resisted and blasphemed.”
How did Paul react when people resisted? He shook out his clothes, which was a sign that said, “I’m moving on from this place.”
You see, even in this act, Paul knew that God was in control. Paul knew that God was going to save some people from their sins. If it wasn’t these Jews in Corinth, then he would preach the gospel to the Gentiles in Corinth.
Paul knew that God was still saving sinners. Paul knew that God had a providential work that He would carry out. Paul knew that God’s plan would never fail.
Church, aren’t you glad that God works in many different ways? Aren’t you glad that God’s plan never stops and never fails? Let’s see how God kept working.
Look at . . .
III. God’s providence through new Jews.
Well, what does it mean that these are “New Jews?”
What we’re saying here is that these people were coming into the new family of God; they were becoming those who trusted in Jesus the Messiah.
Listen to verses 7 and 8:
7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, along with his whole household. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
This man, Titius Justus, who lived next to the synagogue, and Crispus, the leader of the synagogue both believed in the Lord; they and their household.
They believed in the Lord, and they were baptized as followers of Jesus.
You see, church, some of the Jews may have been rejecting God’s message, but there were others out there who believed God’s message.
There were new followers of God who were having a fresh new experience with the Lord, including the leader of the synagogue.
God was doing something new in the hearts of His people. God was doing something new in the hearts of those who were never His people. They were new into the family of God. They were “New Jews” so to speak.
Listen, church: God is still doing something new in the hearts of people today. God is orchestrating His plan, weaving paths together, connecting dots, and so much more, all to do something new and special in the lives of people.
Some of you can testify to the new mercies of God in your life. Some of you can testify to how God brought you to this church, or spoke to you through His Word, or encouraged you through godly relationships, or opened your eyes through an experience, and God is doing something new!
God was doing something new in the lives of Titius Justus and Crispus, and so many others.
He is not done.
Finally, we see . . .
IV. God’s providence through old Jews.
Let’s look at the rest of the passage:
9 The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the tribunal. 13 “This man,” they said, “is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or of a serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. 15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.
As we look at this last point, pay attention to verse 11. It says, “He stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.”
A year and a half. Keep that in mind. This is not just a short trip for Paul. He was there for a long time and he was teaching the Word of God.
One thing we notice in Paul’s missionary journeys is that he makes some enemies in the places he goes, and they usually happen to be Jewish.
Since Paul was in Corinth a long time, it gave him a long time to make a lot of enemies.
These Jewish enemies that Paul made are what I called the “Old Jews.” That is to say, these were Jewish people who were unable to let go of the old way of things and didn’t embrace that which God was doing through Jesus the Messiah.
They were more committed to their tradition and their way of doing things than they were to what God was actually doing in that day.
Church, are we listening? They were more committed to their tradition and their way of doing things than they were to what God was actually doing.
This should serve as a warning to us. We ought to never let our tradition or our preferences get in the way of what God is doing.
By the way, this descriptor “Old Jews” has nothing to do with their age; it has to do with their mindset and their idolatry of the old way of things over what God is actually doing.
Let us be warned against such attitudes and let us embrace what God is doing through the power of Jesus in His Church today.
Well, we see how it turned out for these “Old Jews.”
As was often the case, they tried to have Paul arrested, but it backfired on them. Instead, the ruling official for that region, Gallio, let Paul go and the people turned against the ruler of the synagogue who tried to have Paul arrested.
This synagogue ruler was Sosthenes, who was presumably the one who replaced Crispus, who we know from verse 8 became a follower of Jesus.
So, the plan of the Jews to arrest Paul backfired on Sosthenes, and he was beaten by the crowd.
So, we have Paul’s time in Corinth.
Let this bottom line summarize all that is happening in the passage:
Bottom Line: God is in control of every little part of His mission and every little part of your life.
Listen, church: Paul was not in charge. Aquila and Priscilla were not in charge. Timothy and Silas were not in charge. Titius Justus and Crispus were not in charge. Gallio was not in charge. Sosthenes was not in charge. The providential God of the universe was the one in charge.
God is in control of everything and He is weaving together His plan for your life and for His mission.
Challenge yourself this week in the following ways:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Pray that God will reassure you of His faithfulness.
I believe many of you know that God is in control, but you don’t always feel like God is in control.
Do you recall what God said to Paul in verses 9 and 10? He said, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”
I don’t know that God will speak to you in a vision like He did to Paul, but I know that He can. I also know that He can reassure you of His faithfulness in other ways.
Pray this week that God will reassure you of His faithfulness, and see what He will do.
Weekly Challenge #2 – Seek to accomplish God’s mission in some way.
Listen, brothers and sisters, God was working through Paul, and He will work through you as well.
He wants you to be faithful, and He wants to use you.
Challenge yourself to seek to accomplish God’s mission this week.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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