18 It's Always Too Soon to Quit

Acts of the Apostles • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Aman was shoveling snow from his driveway when two boys carrying snow shovels approached him. “Shovel your snow, Mister?” one of them asked. “Only two dollars!”

Puzzled, the man replied, “Can’t you see that I’m doing it myself?”

“Sure,” said the enterprising lad; “that’s why we asked. We get most of our business from people who are half through and feel like quitting!”

Dr. V. Raymond Edman used to say to the students at Wheaton (Illinois) College, “It’s always too soon to quit!” And Charles Spurgeon reminded his London congregation, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”

Corinth, with its 200,000 people, would not be the easiest city in which to start a church, and yet that’s where Paul went after leaving Athens. And he went alone! The going was tough, but the apostle did not give up.

Corinth’s reputation for wickedness was known all over the Roman Empire. (Rom. 1:18-32 was written in Corinth!) Thanks to its location, the city was a center for both trade and travel. Money and vice, along with strange philosophies and new religions, came to Corinth and found a home there. Corinth was the capital of Achaia and one of the two most important cities Paul visited. The other was Ephesus.

When God opens doors, the enemy tries to close them, and there are times when we close the doors on ourselves because we get discouraged and quit. As Paul ministered in Corinth, the Lord gave him just the encouragements that he needed to keep him going, and these same encouragements are available to us today.

DEVOTED HELPERS (18:1-5)

Paul came to Corinth following his ministry to the philosophers in Greece, and he determined to magnify Jesus Christ and the cross, to depend on the Holy Spirit, and to present the gospel in simplicity (1 Cor. 2:1-5). There were many philosophers and itinerant teachers in Corinth, preying on the ignorant and superstitious population, and Paul’s message and ministry could easily be misunderstood.

One way Paul separated himself from the “religious hucksters” was by supporting himself as a tentmaker. By the providence of God, he met a Jewish couple, Aquila and Priscilla (“Prisca,” 2 Tim. 4:19), who were workers in leather as was Paul. Jewish rabbis did not accept money from their students but earned their way by practicing a trade. All Jewish boys were expected to learn a trade, no matter what profession they might enter. “He who does not teach his son to work, teaches him to steal!” said the rabbis, so Saul of Tarsus learned to make leather tents and to support himself in his ministry (see Acts 18:3; 1 Cor. 9:6-15; 2 Cor. 11:6-10).

Were Aquila and Priscilla Christian believers at that time? We don’t know for certain, but it’s likely that they were. Perhaps they were even founding members of the church in Rome. We do know that this dedicated couple served most faithfully and even risked their lives for Paul (Rom. 16:3-4). They assisted him in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-28), where they even hosted a church in their home (1 Cor. 16:19). Aquila and Priscilla were an important part of Paul’s “team,” and he thanked God for them. They are a good example of how “lay ministers” can help to further the work of the Lord. Every pastor and missionary thanks God for people like Aquila and Priscilla, people with hands, hearts, and homes dedicated to the work of the Lord.

Paul lived and worked with Aquila and Priscilla, but on the Sabbath days witnessed boldly in the synagogue. After all, that was why he had come to Corinth. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia (Acts 17:14-15; 18:5), they brought financial aid (2 Cor. 11:9), and this enabled Paul to devote his full time to the preaching of the gospel. What a joy it must have been for Paul to see his friends and to hear from them the good news of the steadfastness of the Christians in the churches they had planted together (1 Thess. 3).

Everyone agrees that Paul was a great Christian and a great missionary evangelist, but how much would Paul have accomplished alone? Friends like Aquila and Priscilla, Silas and Timothy, and the generous believers in Macedonia made it possible for Paul to serve the Lord effectively. His Christian friends, new and old, encouraged him at a time when he needed it the most. Of course, this reminds us that we should encourage our friends in the work of the Lord. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “God evidently does not intend us all to be rich, or powerful, or great, but He does intend us all to be friends.” “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” is the way Paul expressed it (Gal. 6:2). Humanly speaking, there would have been no church in Corinth were it not for the devotion and service of many different people.

OPPOSITION (18:6-8)

Whenever God is blessing a ministry, you can expect increased opposition as well as increased opportunities. “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9 NKJV). After all, the enemy gets angry when we invade his territory and liberate his slaves. As in Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 17:5-13), the unbelieving Jews who rejected the Word stirred up trouble for Paul and his friends (see 1 Thess. 2:14-16). Such opposition is usually proof that God is at work, and this ought to encourage us. Spurgeon used to say that “the Devil never kicks a dead horse!”

Jewish opposition had forced Paul to leave Thessalonica and Berea, but in Corinth, it only made him determined to stay there and get the job done. It is always too soon to quit! Like the undaunted Christopher Columbus, Paul could write in his journal, “Today we sailed on!”

Two interesting Old Testament images are found in Acts 18:6. To shake out one’s garments was an act of judgment that said, “You have had your opportunity, but now it’s over!” Today we might say that we were washing our hands of a situation. (See Neh. 5:13; and compare Acts 13:51 and Matt. 10:14.) While Paul never ceased witnessing to the Jews, his primary calling was to evangelize the Gentiles (Acts 13:46-48; 28:28).

To have blood on your hands means that you bear the responsibility for another’s death because you were not faithful to warn him. The image comes from the watchman on the city walls whose task it was to stay alert and warn of coming danger (see Ezek. 3:17-21; 33:1-9). But to have blood on your head means that you are to blame for your own judgment. You had the opportunity to be saved, but you turned it down (see Josh. 2:19). Paul’s hands were clean (Acts 20:26) because he had been faithful to declare the message of the gospel. The Jews had their own blood on their own heads because they rejected God’s truth.

At just the right time, God brought another friend into Paul’s life–Gentile, God-fearing Titus Justus. Some Bible students think his full name was Gaius Titus Justus and that he was the “Gaius, my host” referred to in Romans 16:23. The connection between Gaius and Crispus in Acts 18:7-8 and 1 Corinthians 1:14 is certainly significant.

Paul departed from the synagogue and began using the house of Titus Justus as his preaching station, right next to the synagogue! This was certainly a wise decision on Paul’s part, because it gave him continued contact with the Jews and Gentile proselytes, and as a result, even the chief ruler of the synagogue was converted! It was the ruler’s job to see to it that the synagogue building was cared for and that the services were held in a regular and orderly manner. We have here another instance of an entire family turning to the Lord (Acts 10:24, 44; 16:15, 34). How that must have stirred the Jewish population in Corinth!

When you examine Paul’s ministry in Corinth, you will see that he was fulfilling the Lord’s commission given in Matthew 28:19-20. Paul came to Corinth (“Go”), he won sinners to Christ (“make disciples”), he baptized, and he taught them (note Acts 18:11). He even experienced the assurance of the Lord’s “For I am with thee” (Acts 18:9-10).

Paul’s associates baptized most of the new converts (1 Cor. 1:11-17), just as our Lord’s disciples did when He ministered on earth (John 4:1-2; and note Acts 10:46-48). The important thing is the believer’s obedience to the Lord and not to the name of the minister who does the baptizing. When I became senior pastor at the Moody Church in Chicago, an older member boastfully said to me, “I was baptized by Dr. Ironside!” He was surprised that I was not impressed. I was sure that Dr. Ironside would have lovingly rebuked him for speaking like that, for Dr. Ironside was a humble man who wanted Christ’s name exalted, not his own.

To walk by faith means to see opportunities even in the midst of opposition. A pessimist sees only the problems; an optimist sees only the potential; but a realist sees the potential in the problems. Paul did not close his eyes to the many dangers and difficulties in the situation at Corinth, but he did look at them from the divine point of view.

Faith simply means obeying God’s will in spite of feelings, circumstances, or consequences. There never was an easy place to serve God, and if there is an easy place, it is possible that something is wrong. Paul reminded Timothy, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12 NKJV).

“Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament,” wrote Francis Bacon; “adversity is the blessing of the New.” Paul did not allow adversity to keep him from serving God.

THE WORD OF ASSURANCE (18:9-17)

The conversion of Crispus, an important Jewish leader, opened up more opportunities for evangelism and brought more opposition from the enemy! The Jewish community in Corinth was no doubt furious at Paul’s success and did everything possible to silence him and get rid of him. Dr. Luke does not give us the details, but I get the impression that between Acts 18:8 and 9, the situation became especially difficult and dangerous. Paul may have been thinking about leaving the city when the Lord came to him and gave him the assurance that he needed.

It is just like our Lord to speak to us when we need Him the most. His tender “Fear not!” can calm the storm in our hearts regardless of the circumstances around us. This is the way He assured Abraham (Gen. 15:1), Isaac (Gen. 26:24), and Jacob (Gen. 46:3), as well as Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. 20:15-17), Daniel (Dan. 10:12, 19), Mary (Luke 1:30), and Peter (Luke 5:10). The next time you feel alone and defeated, meditate on Hebrews 13:5 and Isaiah 41:10 and 43:1-7, and claim by faith the presence of the Lord. He is with you!

When he was a young man, the famous British preacher G. Campbell Morgan used to read the Bible each week to two elderly women. One evening, when he finished reading the closing words of Matthew 28, Morgan said to the women, “Isn’t that a wonderful promise!” and one of them replied, “Young man, that is not a promise–it is a fact!”

Jesus had already appeared to Paul on the Damascus road (Acts 9:1-6; 26:12-18) and also in the temple (Acts 22:17-18). Paul would be encouraged by Him again when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem (Acts 23:11) and later in Rome (2 Tim. 4:16-17). Our Lord’s angel would also appear to Paul in the midst of the storm and give him a word of assurance for the passengers and crew (Acts 27:23-25). One of our Lord’s names is “Emmanuel–God with us” (Matt. 1:23), and He lives up to His name. Paul was encouraged not only by the presence of the Lord, but also by His promises. Jesus assured Paul that no one would hurt him and that he would bring many sinners to the Savior. The statement “I have many people in this city” (NKJV) implies the doctrine of divine election, for “the Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim. 2:19 NKJV). God’s church is made up of people who were “chosen … in him [Christ] before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4; and see Acts 13:48).

Please note that divine sovereignty in election is not a deterrent to human responsibility in evangelism. Quite the opposite is true! Divine election is one of the greatest encouragements to the preaching of the gospel. Because Paul knew that God already had people set apart for salvation, he stayed where he was and preached the gospel with faith and courage. Paul’s responsibility was to obey the commission; God’s responsibility was to save sinners. If salvation depends on sinful man, then all of our efforts are futile, but if “salvation is of the LORD” (Jonah 2:9), then we can expect Him to bless His Word and save souls.

“Scripture nowhere dispels the mystery of election,” writes John Stott in God’s New Society (InterVarsity, 37), “and we should beware of any who try to systematize it too precisely or rigidly. It is not likely that we shall discover a simple solution to a problem which has baffled the best brains of Christendom for centuries.”

The important thing is that we accept God’s truth and act on it. Paul did not spend his time speculating about divine sovereignty and human responsibility, the way some ivory-tower Christians do today. He got busy and tried to win souls to Christ! You and I do not know who God’s elect are, so we take the gospel to every creature and let God do the rest. And we certainly do not discuss election with the lost! D. L. Moody once told some unconverted people, “You have no more to do with the doctrine of election than you have with the government of China!”

Before leaving this theme, we should note that it is our personal responsibility to make sure that we are among God’s elect. “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure” (2 Peter 1:10 NKJV). To the inquisitive theorist who asked about the number of the elect, Jesus replied, “Strive to enter in at the [narrow] gate” (Luke 13:23-24). In other words, “What you need is salvation for yourself, not speculation about others! Be sure you are saved yourself; then we can talk about these wonderful truths.”

Paul continued in Corinth, knowing that God was with Him and that people would be saved. During those eighteen months of witness, Paul saw many victories in spite of Satan’s opposition. The church was not made up of many mighty and noble people (1 Cor. 1:26-31), but of sinners whose lives were transformed by the grace of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

Dr. Luke shared only one example of divine protection during Paul’s ministry in Corinth (Acts 18:12-17), but it is a significant one. The arrival of a new proconsul gave the unbelieving Jews hope that Rome might declare this new “Christian sect” illegal. They broke the law by attacking Paul and forcing him to go to court. This was not the first time that fanatical Jews had tried to prove that Paul was breaking the Roman law (Acts 16:19-24; 17:6-7).

Being a Roman citizen, Paul was prepared to defend himself, but this turned out to be unnecessary because Gallio defended Paul! The proconsul immediately saw that the real issue was not the application of the Roman law but the interpretation of the Jewish religion, so he refused to try the case!

But that was not the end of the matter. The Greeks who were witnessing the scene got hold of Sosthenes, the man who replaced Crispus as ruler of the synagogue, and beat him right before the eyes of the proconsul! It was certainly a flagrant display of anti-Semitism, but Gallio looked the other way. If this is the same Sosthenes mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:1, then he too got converted, and the Jews had to find another ruler for their synagogue! It would be interesting to know exactly how it happened. Did Paul and some of the believers visit Sosthenes and minister to him? Perhaps his predecessor Crispus helped “wash their wounds” (Acts 16:33 NIV) and used this as an opportunity to share the love of Christ.

How strange and wonderful are the providences of God! The Jews tried to force the Roman proconsul to declare the Christian faith illegal, but Gallio ended up doing just the opposite. By refusing to try the case, Gallio made it clear that Rome would not get involved in cases involving Jewish religious disputes. As far as he was concerned, Paul and his disciples had as much right as the Jews to practice their religion and share it with others. In the book of Acts, Luke emphasizes the relationship between the Roman government and the

Christian church. While it was true that the Jewish council prohibited the apostles to preach (Acts 4:17-21; 5:40), there is no evidence in Acts that Rome ever did so. In fact, in Philippi (Acts 16:35-40), Corinth, and Ephesus (Acts 19:31), the Roman officials were not only tolerant but almost cooperative. Paul knew how to use his Roman citizenship wisely so that the government worked for him and not against him, and he was careful not to accuse the government or try to escape its authority (Acts 25:10-12).

GOD’S WILL (18:18-22)

“If God will” (Acts 18:21) was more than a religious slogan with Paul; it was one of the strengths and encouragements of his life and ministry. Knowing and doing God’s will is one of the blessings of the Christian life (Acts 22:14). In some of his letters, Paul identified himself as “an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God” (1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Eph. 1:1; Col. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1). At a most critical time in his life and ministry, Paul found courage in affirming, “The will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:14).

After eighteen months of ministry, Paul decided that it was God’s will for him to leave Corinth and return to his home church in Antioch. His friends Priscilla and Aquila (note how Luke varies the order of their names) accompanied him to Ephesus and remained there when he departed for Caesarea. In Acts 18:24, we will pick up the story of the church in Ephesus and the important part played by Aquila and Priscilla.

Cenchraea was the seaport for Corinth, and there was a Christian congregation there (Rom. 16:1). Here Paul had his head shorn, “for he had a vow.” This probably refers to the Nazarite vow described in Numbers 6. Since the Nazarite vow was purely voluntary, Paul was not abandoning grace for law when he undertook it. The vow was not a matter of salvation but of personal devotion to the Lord. He allowed his hair to grow for a specific length of time and then cut it when the vow was completed. He also abstained from using the fruit of the vine in any form.

We are not told why Paul took this vow. Perhaps it was a part of his special dedication to God during the difficult days of the early ministry in Corinth. Or perhaps the vow was an expression of gratitude to God for all that He had done for him and his associates. According to Jewish law, the Nazarite vow had to be completed in Jerusalem with the offering of the proper sacrifices. The hair was shorn at the completion of the vow, not at the beginning, and it was not necessary for one to be in Jerusalem to make the vow.

Luke does not tell us how long Paul was in Ephesus, but the time was evidently very short. The Jews there were much more receptive to the gospel and wanted Paul to stay, but he wanted to get to Jerusalem to complete his vow, and then to Antioch to report to the church. However, he did promise to return, and he kept that promise (Acts 19:1).

The statement “I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem” (Acts 18:21) must not be interpreted to mean that Paul and the early Christians felt obligated to observe the Jewish feasts (see Acts 20:16). Being in Jerusalem during the important feasts (in this case, Passover) would give

Paul opportunity to meet and witness to key Jewish leaders from throughout the Roman Empire. He would also be able to minister to Christian Jews who returned to their homeland.

Paul taught clearly that the observing of religious feasts was neither a means of salvation nor an essential for sanctification (Gal. 4:1-11). Christians are at liberty to follow their own conscience so long as they do not judge others or cause others to stumble (Rom. 14:1–15:7). Also, keep in mind Paul’s personal policy with regard to these matters of Jewish practice (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

Arriving at Caesarea, Paul went up to Jerusalem and greeted the believers there. He then went to Antioch and reported to his home church all that God had done on this second missionary journey. He had been gone from Antioch perhaps two years or more, and the saints were no doubt overjoyed to see him and hear about the work of God among the Gentiles.

There’s no proof, but likely Paul kept reminding the believers in Antioch, “It’s always too soon to quit!”

That’s a good reminder for us to heed today. Acts 18:1-18