Strategy – 5/2/10

Sermon Series: Acts – Faith Explosion
Text: Acts 18:1-11
Title: Strategy
“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 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, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 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.” 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. 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. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 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.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” (Acts 18:1-11, ESV)
Theme: In this passage we see that Paul continues to go about delivering the Gospel and planting Churches in exactly the same way that he has throughout this trip and the previous one. His strategy is clearly seen here should give us a good paradigm for taking the Gospel to our friends, neighbors and family.
Introduction: For several years a lawyer and a doctor had regularly played golf together. They were evenly matched, and there was a keen sense of rivalry. Then one spring the lawyer’s game suddenly improved so much that the doctor was losing regularly. The doctor’s efforts to improve his own game were unsuccessful, but finally he came up with an idea. At a bookstore he picked out three how-to-play golf texts, and sent them to the lawyer for a birthday present. It wasn’t long before they were evenly matched again.
This story is probably not humorous to someone who does not play golf but it reminded me of the fact that when I took a golf lesson my handicap immediately rose by five strokes. You see I had been ding things the wrong way for long enough that when I was taught to swing the correct way nothing was in sync.
Transition: Today as we study this passage in Acts we see that Paul has left Athens and traveled down to Corinth – (A bit of background about Corinth here) – But even though the location was completely different his means of doing God’s work remained the same. This should teach us something about how we go about doing the work we have been commissioned to do.
I. Present the message.
a. Reason – διαλέγομαι
i. This is the same word used in 17 when he is trying to persuade those in the synagogue in Athens when he opened up God’s word and laid it before them to demonstrate that Jesus was the Christ who was portrayed in the scriptures.
ii. The necessity of letting God’s word speak for itself: Do not try to embellish or make it sound better, it is God’s word He knows what He is talking about.
b. Persuade – πείθω
i. This word carries with it the idea of an intentional attempt to sway someone to your idea.
ii. I think that sometimes we are so worried what people think about us that we forget that what God thinks about us is a lot more important. Our job is to stand up for the truth of God, to persuade people that without Him life is not full, nor pleasant and that there is no future hope.
iii. Both of these verbs are imperfect tense. It is clear that these were activities which Paul was continually working toward.
iv. Do not give up. If God has put someone on your heart and in your mind and in your sphere of influence to share the gospel with, do it. If you have said all that you can say then continue to lift that person up in prayer.
c. Testify
i. This carries with it the idea that our conversations to people need to be personal in nature. God is present in our lives and we explain the benefits of this in a personal way. – The blind man in John 9.
ii. When Benjamin Franklin wished to interest the people of Philadelphia in street lighting, he didn’t try to persuade them by just talking about it. He hung a beautiful lantern on a long bracket in front of his home. He kept the glass highly polished. Every evening at the approach of dusk, he carefully lit the wick. People saw the light from a distance and when they walked in its light, found that it helped them to avoid sharp stones on the pavement. Others placed light at their homes, and soon Philadelphia recognized the need for street lighting. As others learn of the peace and joy you have in your life in Christ, they will recognize their need for Him. Your witness through personal testimony may be just what someone is waiting for!
II. Depend on God to defend You
a. Everywhere that Paul went there seem to be a similar reaction to the message which he delivered – some were saved their lives were irrevocably retrieved from sin and death and others tried to persecute and kill him. This is a fact of Christian witness.
b. Opposed
i. The word which is used here is a military term which means arrayed in battle against. What Paul seemed to facing, not for the first time, was an organized attack against him personally. You could say that the Jewish authorities here in Corinth were arrayed against him.
ii. Sometimes it seems like, when we are being faithful to God that the world erects obstacle after obstacle against us.
1. – My sophomore year of wrestling. –
c. Reviled –
i. The word used here in the text is the same one that we get our modern word blasphemy from. Basically it says that they were saying untruths about him, slandering him.
ii. You notice what he says to them – “your blood be on your heads – I am innocent.” He is declaring both that he has done all he can do to present the message to them and that he is innocent of the charges against him.
d. Let God defend you
i. When we are confronted with an unbelieving world there will be many times that we will be accused of things that simply are not true. We need to have confidence in the fact that God will vindicate us. We can declare our innocence but it is God who is on our side.
III. Look for Confirmation
a. Results
i. Do you notice the outcome here which should be familiar to us by now? The ruler of the synagogue and his entire household are saved.
b. God-sightings
i. An audience of one
This year when Duke faced off against Butler in the NCAA tournament, one of the Duke players – Nolan Smith came to the stadium in Indianapolis with an NCAA championship already on his finger. No, he had not played on a team that had won the big show yet, and he was not even born when that ring was forged, but his father, Derek, was on that great Louisville team that defeated the UCLA Bruins in March of 1980.
Unfortunately Derek died unexpectedly when Nolan was only 8 years old, but that doesn’t stop him from honoring his father through his own career. Nolan says that remembering his father adds an intensity to his game and the tattoo that he wears on his shoulder definitely illustrates that. It is a portrait of his father that says Watching over you, underneath it.