106 Acts 18:12-18 GODS PRVIDENTIAL CARE OF PAUL AT CORINTH Introduction: In our previous text the Apostle Paul had become become afraid for his physical safety because of opposition from the Jewish in the synagogue at Corinth. As a result he had become so depressed that he was on the verge of what today is commonly called “preacher burn-out.” That is, he was on the verge of leaving the city of Corinth and, perhaps, was on the verge of quitting the ministry altogether. Yet right at the time that Paul was most depressed, God appeared to him in a night vision and spoke words of encouragment. In verses 9 and 10 God told Paul not to be afraid. God reminded him, “...I am with thee.” God promised him specifically that no one would harm him. Now God was not promising that no one would ever harm him, but that no one in the city of Corinth would ever harm him. With that encouragement from the Lord, Paul continued to stay at Corinth and boldly preach the word of God. At the time of this text Paul had been in Corinth for a hear and a half. This was much longer than Paul had usually stayed any place. Paul stayed and Paul faithfully served the Lord because he was depending on the providential care of the Lord. This is something that every Christian needs to do. We all need to learn to depend on the providential care of the Lord. Much trouble will come our way in life and we could very easily become fearful and depressed. We could become so depressed that we would be tempted to give up and quit. But no matter what trouble comes our way, we need to depend on the providential care of the Lord. I. Trouble for Paul from the Jews V. 12, “And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia...” Achaia was the name of the province in which the city of Corinth was located. Paul was at Corinth when Gallio was made the ruler of this province. In our text he is called “the deputy of Achaia.” At the instruction of the new Roman caesar the Roman senate had been given the task of electing a new deputy for Achaia and the Romand senate had chosen Gallio. (V. 12), “...the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat.” The leaders of the Jewish synagogue in Corinth had apparently been storing up their hatred for the Apostle Paul awaiting an opportunity to bring charges against him before the Roman deputy. Now that there was a new deputy on the scene it seemed to those Jews to be a good time to bring legal charges against Paul. Luke says that it was with one accord that they made insurrection against Paul. That is, they made a sudden move to have him arrested and brought before the new deputy and press charges against him. So this is what they did. Paul was arrested and brought before the judgment seat of Gallio, the new deputy. They apparently felt that they had a much better chance of getting him to rule against Paul than they had with the previous deputy. So after a year and a half of peaceful ministry in Corinth suddenly there is a histile verbal attack against Paul and legal charges are brought against him before the court. God had made a promise to protect Paul from bodily harm, but God had not promised to keep him free from all trouble. The Devil’s crowd were still very much in opposition to what he was preaching and teaching and the Devil still wanted Paul stopped. II. The charge that was made against Paul V. 13, “Saying, This [fellow] persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.” The Jews charged Paul before Gallio of persuading men to worship God contrary to the law.” The question that we must ask is, “What law were they talking agout? Were they taking about the Greek law? This a Greecian city located within one of the two provinces into which the Romans had divided the land of the Greeks. So was it the laws of the Greeks that Paul was charged with breaking?” The answer is: Not likely. “Were the Jews perhaps talking about Roman law? The Romans ruled the whole Roman Empire inclulding the province of Achaia and the city of Corinth. So was it the Roman law to which the Jews referred?” The answer again is” Not lilely. “Were the Jews talking about the Jewish law? Were they talking about the law which God gave through Moses and is commonly called “The Law of Moses?” The answer is: Most definitely. We will see the evidence in verse 15 that Gallio understood them to be talking about their own religious laws and customs. III. Gallio’s ruling of Paul’s case V. 14-15, “And when Paul was now about to open [his] mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O [ye] Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and [of] your law, look ye [to it]; for I will be no judge of such [matters].” The Apostle Paul was all set to speak up in his defense. We have already seen on previous occasions in this book of Acts that Paul was very good at speaking in his defense. The words that he would say were already framed in his mind and were on the tip of his tongue when Gallio, himself, spoke up. When he was finished speaking there was no need for Paul to speak and to attempt to defend himself. Gallio did it for him. In effect Gallio said that if Paul had been charged with committing some type of wrongful criminal deed he would hear the case and seek to determine if Paul was guilty as charged. If he had been charged with some type of lewdness, some kind of serious misconduct which might wrong someone else, he would hear the case. But since it involved some matter pertaining to Jewish religious law, Gallio was not about to rule in such a matter. He was not about to even hear the case. V. 16, “And he drave them from the judgment seat.” Case dismissed! Gallio not only dismissed the case, but he was angry at the Jews for bringing such a case before him. Luke says that he drove them out of his court. IV. The Jewish leader who brought the charges against Paul beaten V. 17, “Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat [him] before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.” The Greeks which are spoken of in this verse were surely not those Greeks who had been saved under the preaching of Paul. They would surely have been taught to behave in a more godly manner. These were apparently unsaved Greek citizens of Corinth and the surrounding area. They had witnessed Paul being brought before the court. They had heard the charges made against him. They had heard as Gallio dismissed the case. They had observed Gallio’s anger against the Jews as he drove them out of his court. They had apparently in their own hearts harbored up dislike and angry feelings against the Jews. So seeing that Gallio was angry at them also they took advantage to vent their own anger against them. They beat Sosthenes, the Jewish leader. They beat him unmercifully. They beat him openly righnt there in front of the courthouse. Gallio could not have helped but know about the beating, but he did not care and he did nothing to stop it and nothing to punish them for their crime. V. Paul tarrying at Corinth V. 18, “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while...” Luke does not give us a specific amount of time that Paul continued to stay at Corinth. However, his choice of words lets us know that it was a considerable length of time. He had been there a year and a half up to the time of his arrest and trial. Ordinarily such a situation as his arrest and trial would have caused him to leave and go on to a new place of witness. However, since God had promised him that he would not be hurt at Corinth and since God had demonstrated that He is well capable of protecting him, Paul continued on at Corinth for a considerable length of time. He was able to do a lot more teaching and training at Corinth than he had usually been able to do. I strongly suspect that the church at Corinth needed his special teaching and training. The city was an extremely immoral city and many of the members of the Corinthian church had been brought up under wicked and immoral conditions. They had a lot of changing to do in their own lives in order to please the Lord. However, even though he was well protected from harm, the time did come for him to move on. He would make his way back toward Jerusalem to worship and witness in that important city. It is good to know that when he would leave Corinth he would leave behind one of the largest and spiritually strongest churches he had established. (V. 18), “...and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria...” We will see later that Paul did not sail directly to Syria. He made some important stops before arriving at Syria. But the ship that he caught did have Syria as its destiny. (V. 18), “...and with him Priscilla and Aquila...” Priscilla and Aquila left Corinth at the same time that Paul did. They traveled at least as far as Ephesus with Paul. It is not certain whether they traveled with him when he left Ephesus. (V. 18), “...having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.” Cenchrea was the seaport which was located in the eastern part of Corinth. Paul had made a vow promising some kind of service to the Lord. Under the law of Moses he was required to let his hair grow until he had fulfilled the commitment which he had made in the vow. At the close of those days he was to shave his head. He was at Cenchrea in the eastern part of Corinth when his vow was fulfilled and he shaved his head in that place before going on. VI. Some very important lessons for us Let us learn that all people have trouble in this life. Even God’s people have trouble in this life. Even the most faithful of God’s people have trouble in this life. The Apostle Paul was one of the most faithul servants of God of all ages. Yet Paul had trouble. Even though God promised Paul that no bodily harm would come to him in Corinth, yet that did not mean that he would have no trouble in Corinth. He was arrested, false charges were made against him and he was brought to trial. Likewise, all people in this whole world have trouble. In Job 14:1 we read, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Even the best of Christians today suffer trouble. Being a Christian does not make one immune to trouble. Being a good Christian does not make one immune to trouble. Let us learn that no matter what trouble we face in life God will keep His promise to be with us. God has promised His people, “I wil never leave you nor forsake you.” This is a promise that God has made and this is a promise that God will keep. God always keeps all of His promises. It ought to be a special comfort to us in our time of trouble to know that God has not forsaken us --- that God is with us. He will always be with us and help us. Let us learn that God can help in every trouble that we endure. Paul was arrested. Paul was falsely charged before the court. Paul was brought to trial before the highest Roman officer in the province of Achaia. But God was with Paul and God was able to help Paul in that trouble. It was not accidental that the Roman deputy dismissed the charges against Paul. It was a result of the providential care of God seeing to Paul’s needs. How good it is to know that no matter what trouble we face, God’s providential care will see us through that trouble to the end. Let us learn that good things often come out of great trouble. Paul experienced trouble at Corinth, but there was something good that came out of his trouble. A great New Testament church was organized in the city of Corinth. It was organized and it grew even in the midst of all that trouble that Paul went through. Let us learn that there is light at the end of the tunnel. That is, the time would come when Paul would leaven the city of Corinth. He stayed there for a considerable time, but the time eventually came when he left that city. The time of trouble for the Christian is here in this sin cursed world. But the time will come when the Christian will leave this trouble filled world and go to a world where all his troubles will be over. It is so good to know that when you die you will go to a better world. Conclusion: Are you as a Christian experiencing some kind of great trouble in your life at this time? If so, let encourage you to remember that the Lord has made you a promise that He will never break. He has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Please remember that promise and be comforted by it. Let me challenge each Christian to be faithful to the Lord and His cause. Paul set a marvelous example for us. Paul became depressed at one time and felt like giving up, but Paul never gave up. He was faithful in his service to the Lord until the very end of his lilfe. Let me assure you that if you are faithful to the Lord, the Lord will use you to bring about good in His cause. Paul won souls to the Lord in Corinth. Paul establilshed a church for the Lord there in Corinth. The Lord can use you to His glory right here in Tyler. And He will use you if you are faithful to Him. Let me call upon you who are unsaved to repent of your sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save your soul. You are going to have trouble in this life whether you are a Christian or not. But if you go out of this world unsaved the worst of your trouble will start when you breath your last breath and you step out into eternity. The problem is that there will never be any help for any of your troubles. There will never be any relief for your pain and suffering. Come and call upon Jesus right now and ask Jesus to save your soul.