Trusting God's Providence (Part 2) – Acts 18:12–22

PRAY & INTRO: Trusting God’s providence can be challenging, because we rarely ever perceive in the moment how he is working for our good and his glory. Most often, it isn’t until later (sometimes much later), that we can recognize to some degree what God was doing as he guided our steps. Even Paul, as an Apostle, would have had much the same experience of trusting God even when he didn’t know exactly how God was working. 

Last week we began establishing how prominently we perceive God’s providence at work in Paul’s ministry during his time in Corinth.

We explained that providence is God’s governing power and activity as he oversees his creation and works out his plans for it. And since God is actively involved in the purposeful directing and providing for his creation, imagine still further his presence and care for those whom he has chosen as his particular people, those whom he saves through faith in Jesus Christ.

We also emphasized that God’s providence is not merely a theological concept, but a reality that encourages us to actively trust in his presence and care. Accordingly, we covered verses 1-11 to discuss the following things from the pattern in Paul’s ministry to apply to our own situations:

We trust God to provide co-laborers in ministry.

We trust God to provide for our material needs and physical protection as he deems best.

We trust God to provide saving faith to his people.

Now, we continue to observe God’s presence and preservation in our political realities, according to his providence.

Acts 18:12–17 ESV

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.

As we look at these verses more closely, I want to reemphasize something we mentioned last week from the teaching of Jesus that gives us helpful action steps as we trust in God’s providence.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

(seek - look for and pursue as more greatly to be desired)

(first - before anything else, as prominent, best, and most important)

Following Paul’s example as he follows Christ (1 Cor 4:16, 11:1; Phil 3:17; 1 Thess 1:6),...

We trust God’s control over  political  realities as we pursue his kingdom above all else. (vv. 12-17)

Who determined before time began that God the Son would come during the rule of the Roman Empire? [pause] Who has power over not only the spiritual forces of evil, but also over nations and armies, and even over the individual hearts and minds of earthly rulers?

Who allows emperor Claudius to expel the Jews from Rome, which results in Aquila and Priscilla getting to know and serving alongside Paul? Who provided a saved Gentile’s home where they could continue meeting near the synagogue to hear Paul preach? Who provided saved allies among the Jewish religious leaders in Corinth? (Crispus, later Sosthenes)

Who has determined that Gallio should be proconsul of Achaia at this precise time and place? (AD 51-52)

Proconsul’s were governing authorities over provinces under Roman rule that were presently peaceful territories, and were appointed by the Roman Senate. So it would seem that under the authority of Emperor Claudius (v. 2), the Senate had elected Gallio for a two-year proconsular term in Achaia (which would only last one year due to his health).

And we know, according to God’s own revelation about himself, that He is actively ordering or allowing all things in all places at all times. God’s providence is at work in every detail and on a grand scale.

This takes place a year and a half after (v. 11) Paul was promised safety (v. 9), so when the Jews make a united attack against him and bring him before judgment seat (the judicial bench), Paul does not know the outcome, but he does know who presides over all outcomes.

As usual, the accusation from the Jews against Paul (as it was with others, and with Jesus), is that he is teaching something, persuading people to worship God in a way that is not lawful.

But before Paul can say anything by way of defense or explanation, Gallio informs the Jews that he is having nothing to do with this. The first thing he must determine from the judgment seat is whether or not to even hear a case. He shuts this one down by saying that the dispute is not worth his time and consideration. They have no serious accusation against Paul of wrongdoing or crime, but merely a complaint that he’s teaching something (from within Judaism) that they don’t like. He tells them to deal with issues of their own religious law themselves, and so refuses to be judge of these things.

This theme is probably a key piece for Luke overall in the narrative of Acts, especially as it pertains to Paul and all that happens with him: Christianity is not primarily a political movement at all, but a movement concerning a spiritual kingdom that transforms individuals and society from within. Transformed people are not idle.

Thus it is not immediately viewed by Rome as a threat, but that the empire will turn against it as it rises in influence. But the argument remains clear that Jesus, and in turn the Apostle Paul, have never done anything against Rome but have only sought the spiritual good of mankind.

Back on the topic of God’s providence over political realities and his preservation of our safety as he desires, we see that Paul gets off literally without a word. The Jews are undoubtedly not pleased, so Gallio forcibly drives them from before the tribunal, which may likely have been in the public marketplace. (He probably uses his lictors to do this, under the threat of beating, just as Paul and Silas had been beaten by them in their official capacity in Philippi, Ac 16:22.)

Instead, it would seem that the Jews retaliate against one of their own, Sosthenes, and beat him right there in the marketplace. (I think it is unlikely that the Gentile lictors do this, but rather the Jews who were rejected before the court. And therefore Gallio just ignoring it would also make more sense this way.) 

-Sosthenes either replaced Crispus as synagogue ruler or the two worked together in this role of responsibility for the synagogue services. If this is the same Sosthenes mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus (1 Cor 1:1), then Sosthenes seems to have become a believer in Jesus Christ (perhaps after this incident), and a helper to Paul (probably to help pen the letter to the church at Corinth as Paul spoke).

IF this is the same Sosthenes, and if he was indeed converted after this mob beating, then here would serve another example that God often providentially allows suffering as a means of turning our eyes to him. Or perhaps Sosthenes was already converted at this time, so they beat him because they might not get away with beating Paul in public.

In any case, Paul was protected from harm in this case while Sosthenes was preserved through this political upheaval, injustice, and physical harm.

Now the emphasis shifts again to Paul on the move.

Acts 18:18–22 ESV

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. ²⁰When 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.

Sandwiched right in the middle of all this ***

As we trust God’s providence, we do so always with a prayerful posture of  thanksgiving . (v. 18b)

(In v. 18b) There is a brief reference to a vow and the cutting of hair at Cenchreae (pn - kenkreai), which seems most plausibly to refer to Paul rather than Aquila. - Because we have so little detail concerning the vow, we cannot be too definitive or dogmatic about its meaning or purpose, but we can suggest a most probable relationship to the context.

This is not likely to be a formal Nazirite vow, but a more private one—not simply because Luke doesn’t call it that, but because Paul (being rabbinically trained) would have known all the detailed requirements: that a Nazirite vow should end with a minimum of 30 days in Jerusalem, where the hair would be cut and presented in the temple.

But what might be the purpose then of this vow? Such vows could be undertaken for a period to fervently seek God’s blessing, or for an allotted time to express deep and lasting gratitude. The most likely thing in Paul’s scenario is that he is thanking God for his promise to protect him from harm in Corinth (v. 10), and then having done so both emphatically and for a prolonged period (released by Gallio without even a trial, and then stayed even longer, v. 18a).

So Paul would have been under this vow as an expression of thanksgiving for the duration of the process while God fulfilled this promise.

Paul instructs believers, in his letter to the Philippians, with the importance of such a prayerful posture of thanksgiving at all times as we entrust ourselves to God’s providential care.

Philippians 4:6–7 ESV

⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(This all comes in the context of Paul using himself as an example of learning to be content in any and every situation.)

God does indeed provide to us this peace and calm and comfort. But admittedly, in certain seasons and situations of life, due to our own frailty, we must resolve to pray with thanksgiving again and again (for contentment, comfort, wisdom).

Now also in vv. 18-22, as we consider Paul’s transitions between places and ministries, we observe that his focus and trust remain the same. With regards to ourselves, we might apply the principle this way:

We trust God to provide  direction  in our lives as we pursue his kingdom above all else. (vv. 18a, 19-22)

(18a) We prayerfully trust God to provide direction. — In Paul’s case for when to stay and when to go, whom to take and whom to leave.

(when to stay and go) - (whom to take and leave)

It seems many of us often think that one of the greatest sacrifices of missionaries is to enter into greater risk politically and in personal safety. … My view is that the greatest sacrifice is being separated from loved ones, and the second is perhaps is the feeling of being not ultimately settled, the sense of sojourning.

Sojourning our way to eternal rest, we rest in God’s care to provide what he deems best for us as we seek to serve him above all else.

Now also, at the mention of Priscilla and Aquila again, we are reminded that missionary work was not limited to single men. As became the case with some of the other Apostles and Jesus’ brothers doing ministry with their wives (1 Cor 9:5), this couple traveled and ministered together in Corinth, Ephesus, Rome again (Rom 16:3,5), and Ephesus again (2 Tim. 4:19).

Priscilla’s name (or the shorter version Prisca) is sometimes mentioned first, as here and at v. 26 with Apollos, and sometimes listed second; Paul refers to them both ways. But the fact that Priscilla is sometimes mentioned first would indicate that she was active in ministry, even in private teaching and mentorship alongside her husband and with his blessing.

(In Ephesus too — for when to stay and when to go, whom to take and whom to leave.)

Whom to take and leave comes first. He will set sail again for Palestine, but let Aquila and Priscilla continue in work and ministry in Ephesus… a decision which proves to be massively important in the life and ministry of Apollos (vv. 24-28).

And although Paul preaches briefly in the synagogue in Ephesus, he elects not to remain there at this time, but to return back to Jerusalem and to Antioch to report on their ministry up to this point (v. 22). [map, and then zoomed in map] - Caesarea, then up (elevation, meaning to Jerusalem), then down to the sending church at Antioch in Syria.

When Paul declines to stay and takes his leave of them, he expresses his plans to return “if God wills.” In other words, all of his plans are contingent upon sensitivity to the Lord’s leading and on trusting God’s providence, in his life and in theirs. Paul is known to say similar things in his letters to the churches (1 Cor 4:19), acknowledging that his plans are ultimately in God’s hands. James, the half-brother of Jesus and leader in the Jerusalem church, instructs specifically that we ought to think of our plans the same way: James 4:13-15

James 4:13–15 ESV

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— ¹⁴ yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

We pray for God to provide us with direction, but we also pray with trust and gratitude that God’s providence extends beyond our planning.

In God’s providence, he will allow Paul to return and have fruitful ministry in Ephesus, this city which becomes the focal point at the front and back of Paul’s third missionary journey, which begins at v. 23.

But as we come to the end of Paul’s second missionary journey, and particularly this ministry in Corinth, we conclude today with this final summary application:

Conclusion: We gratefully trust God’s  presence  and providence in every situation as we pursue his kingdom above all else.

(v. 10 - “for I am with you”)

-Would Paul only believe that God was with him when such an outcome occurred or was expected (what took place in Corinth), or did he also submit to and trust God’s providence even when the political realities were against him? And would Paul rest and trust in God’s presence when things didn’t go according to his own plans?

We trust God’s providence over political realities, over our personal safety, over his direction for our lives, always with a posture of submission to his will and with grateful prayer.

PRAY

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