HOST
(bold text): Welcome to TruthQuest Live! I’m your host, Tim Wade.
Today’s
guest is someone I’ve always wanted to meet but I never really thought I would
in this life. He’s a physician and a widely-read author. No doubt many of you
have read some of his most popular books. How many here have read the book of
Acts in the New Testament? Hey, that’s great.
If you’ve been listening to the latest news, you’ve already heard . . .
about the miraculous resurrection of Dr. Luke. And he’s here with us today! All
the way from the 1st century world of the Roman empire. Let’s
welcome Dr. Luke. Dr. Luke, it’s an
honor and a privilege to have you live on TruthQuest today. Thank you for
coming.
LUKE
(light text): You’re welcome. I’m glad to be here. It’s really interesting, although I don’t really much like these
modern suits, the ties especially.
You
were an eyewitness to many things that we’d like to hear about, but we only
have a limited time today. So our focus today is on the truth about your
experience with the apostle Paul on that trip to Corinth. I’ve read the story in Acts 18; and I wonder
why the apostle Paul decided to go to Corinth at all. Wasn’t Corinth quite a
wicked place?
It
sure did and I don’t even know what possessed Paul to come to Corinth. After
being at Athens and debating with the philosophers, it was a big change. Yes,
Corinth was a demoralizing place. It raised eyebrows even among the heathen
because of the gross immorality practiced there. It was said that the temple of the fertility cult there in
Corinth had a thousand prostitutes.
Corinth was to Greece what a lot of you people think of San Francisco or
New Orleans these days.
Not
where you want to hang out with your children.
Yeah,
it was rough. But Paul forged on ahead.
What
was it that kept Paul going?
Well
he heard about a large congregation of Jews there in Corinth, but he was driven
to go anywhere because of the cross of Jesus. That’s what possessed him. Of
course, he wanted to tell the Jews in Corinth about Jesus and the cross. But
before I go any further, I need to put something into perspective for those of
you in the 21st century, especially you church-goers.
What’s
that?
Calvary’s
cross, in your day and age, has a lot of positive ideas connected with it. It’s
wonderful to you, but it wasn’t wonderful in our time. In our day, death by
crucifixion was regarded as shameful, repulsive, horrifying. And to the Greeks,
who believed in elevating the human race through science and philosophy, the
idea of the Savior of mankind dying on a cross sounded absolutely ridiculous.
And of course, the Jews naturally would think that dying on the cross was the
curse of God. In their thinking, God’s Messiah couldn’t possibly be crucified.
That’s
right. That even came from the Old Testament about being a curse, wasn’t it?
Yes,
that’s right. But to Paul, it was very,
very different. The cross was
everything to him.
Well,
if, to your contemporaries, the cross was at best a horrifying torture tool; of
course, to the Jews, it was the ultimate curse; why was the cross everything to
Paul?
Well
when he met Jesus on the Damascus road, that changed everything. He received a totally different picture of
the cross. To him it was a revelation of the infinite love of God dying to save
a lost world. That’s when Paul found out through his own experience that when
someone really takes notice of and absorbs the love of the Father, for what He
is really like as lifted up through the cross, a transformation, a change of
heart takes place.
So
that was Paul’s motivation for ministry? Is that what you’re telling us?
Yes!
that’s what it was all about for Paul. He had this deep desire to help others
see Jesus and to help others know both the love and power of God. And that’s
what drove him. Proclaiming the Crucified Savior was everything to Paul. Even
in wicked, corrupt Corinth.
Well
that helps us understand what he was dealing with in terms of the image. That gives us a lot of perspective on what
you and Paul were dealing with in your missionary efforts. How did Paul try to persuade the Jews?
Well,
when he first got to Corinth, he could only attend the synagogue there in
Corinth once a week. Every Sabbath he
attended the synagogue and he gave them a Bible study from all the writings of
Moses and the prophets. Of course, that was a lot of the Old Testament in those
days. That was the Bible right there,
and he backed up everything he said with the evidence from the Bible. And from
those scriptures, he showed how Jesus died to bring men and women back to God.
He showed them that Jesus’ death was what all the sacrifices of the Old
Testament pointed toward.
So
on Sabbath he reasoned from the scriptures.
Did he preach any other time beside Sabbath?
Well,
not at first, but when Silas and Timothy and the rest of us joined him there in
Corinth, with our support, then he was able to proclaim the love of Jesus
through the cross, not just on Sabbaths, but every day of the week.
Besides
reasoning from the Scriptures, another thing we do now is, sometimes someone
will share a personal testimony of how they got to know Jesus and what Jesus
means to them personally. Did Paul ever
do that?
Oh,
did he ever! He always gave his own
personal testimony. He never got tired of telling the story of meeting Jesus on
the road to Damascus and how Jesus absolutely changed his life. And it was so
clear to people that He loved Jesus, his crucified and risen Savior.
So
how did people respond to Paul’s personal testimony about Jesus?
It
was moving to me every time I heard it. Paul’s appeals were so strong and
passionate, that only those who were the most bitter and most hateful could
walk away without being moved.
That’s
beautiful. Tell you what, let me make
that question more specific. In that
Corinthian synagogue, how was his testimony received there?
Well,
unfortunately, the story did not have a happy ending. At least, not yet. It
seemed that the stronger and more passionate Paul got in his appeals, the more
the influential Jews of that synagogue got stubborn, and they ended up
resorting to brute violence, in fact.
What
did they do?
Well,
Paul was talking along and sharing his love of Jesus and everything about
Jesus, when all of a sudden these loud, angry men stomped and crowded around
Paul, interrupting him. Dust from the dirt floors was kicked up everywhere
because of their stomping.
Quite
a scene right in the worship service then, right?
That’s
right. It was right there, and they
were pointing fingers at him and some were waving their fists, arguing with
him. It looked like some were looking around for rocks or bricks, while others
shouted at Paul, insulting him and yelling insulting things about Jesus.
That
sounds pretty scary. Do you think his
life was in danger?
I
was afraid for Paul. I thought he was
in real trouble. I feared for his life.
Well,
according to the story, he was not killed at that time. What happened? How did that work out?
I
don’t know. I saw it with my own eyes
and I still don’t know how it happened—how God protected Paul. All I know is
that all of a sudden, the angry mob just backed off and quieted down. Paul
realized, of course, that he wasn’t going to get any further with these Jews,
so he decided he would have to go somewhere else, so he shook the dust off his
clothes, and he told them, “Look, you’re responsible for your own destructive
disbelief. I’ve done my part, and from now on I’m going to the Gentiles.” And
with that he marched safely right out of the synagogue and we all followed
right after him.
And
they let all of you go, just like that?
After that scene.
Just
like that.
So,
where did you go? I think I would have found a safer place to live about that
time.
Well,
we didn’t go very far. We went right
next door to Titius Justus’ house who was a Gentile who
accepted Paul’s testimony about Jesus. For a while there, we just turned
Justus’ house into another synagogue, because a lot of people, Jews and many
more Greeks, kept coming and wanting to hear more. And many chose to believe.
Was
that safe right next to that synagogue where you’d been attacked? The Jews must not have liked that. How did
they respond to that?
They
were exasperated and becoming more and more stubborn and more hateful. They
began spreading lies and malicious rumors about Paul and the gospel that he
preached. They rejected the truth about Jesus, they rejected the love of God
and it was like a switch went off in their brains. They bitterly broadcast to
anyone who would listen that Paul and the Jesus he preached about were of the
devil.
You
know, Dr. Luke, that really brings me to something that bothers me a lot,
sometimes. Those people, Jesus was the
One they needed most. What do you
do? How do you reach someone when they
are like that?
Well,
good question. What can you do? Well, of course, we pray for them. As Christ’s followers, we respect their
choice. We have no option but to let them go.
It’s the kind of thing that Paul used to talk about a lot, that that’s
what God does when people stubbornly refuse to listen to Him. He sadly goes on to someone else, leaving
the rejecters of His truth to themselves. And there is nothing left to keep
them from being more hateful and more selfish people.
Sounds
like a dangerous condition.
Oh,
it definitely was.
That
must have been very discouraging, to you particularly, considering that was the
initial focus of the missionary journey there.
Were there some bright spots in the trip? Did anyone accept your message and receive Jesus and become
baptized or anything like that?
Absolutely.
Even Crispus, the ruler of the Jewish synagogue chose to believe. He and his
whole family were baptized. Wow! We were thrilled. So there was a measure of
success there in Corinth. And yet even after all those baptisms and the new
church was established, Paul could not shake a bad feeling about being there in
Corinth. He was disheartened by all the wickedness in corrupt Corinth, such depraved
behavior there. And combined with the
contempt and hatefulness of the Jews, he didn’t feel good about staying
there. So Paul told us that he was
planning to go on to a more promising area.
So
finally. I think I would have made that
decision before the apostle Paul did, but I guess he was a better
missionary. Where did you go?
When
we woke up the next morning we could tell something had changed, because Paul
had a big smile on his face. He told us to stop packing.
Oh
really. What had changed?
He
told us that the Lord had appeared to him in a vision the previous night and
told him that we needed to stay there longer, and I said, “But Paul, aren’t you
worried about the threats to your life? What about the terrible wickedness?” And he said, “Nope, I’m not worried. The
Lord told me that we’ve got a lot more work to do here, ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the Lord said, ‘but
continue to speak here and don’t be silent, because I am with you. No one will
harm you, because I have many people in this city.’ ”
That
really must have been encouraging. So what happened?
Yes,
we were encouraged just when we needed it the most. We set up our gospel shop
in Corinth and stayed a lot longer than we were planning. We stayed for another
year and a half, teaching and preaching, all of us together. Of course, the apostle Paul was foremost in
that, and we stayed there, and many more people joined.
I’m
sure that the Jews hated every day Paul was around there in Corinth. Did they
try anything else to oppose your work?
Oh
yes, they did. When the Romans gave the region a new ruler, Gallio, the Jews
figured that was their chance to do something and they devised something very
devious.
What
did they do?
They
must have been watching Paul’s routine and figured out when they could grab
Paul by force, posse-style. With their strongest men, they dragged him down to
the courthouse and brought a complaint against him to the new ruler. They were
hoping to land Paul in jail, get him beaten and silence him, no doubt. When it
all came down, word spread fast what had happened. We all anxiously ran down to the city hall to see what was
happening to Paul, praying while we ran. (Talk about praying on the run!) There was already a crowd of Greeks
surrounding the place. A lot of other city officials were interested to hear
what was going on, too. It looked like the whole town was gathered there.
Dr.
Luke, in our country we have freedom of religion. Why couldn’t the Jews just
let Paul preach whatever he wanted to, just not in their synagogue? Why didn’t
they just leave him alone?
Well,
that’s what we wished, but we didn’t get that.
You see, in those days there wasn’t really absolute religious
freedom. In those days in the Roman
empire, only approved religions could be followed. Anything else was illegal,
and if you were caught teaching and preaching something that wasn’t approved,
then you’d get in trouble. The Jewish religion was tolerated and recognized by
the Roman state. It was an approved
religion. So if those devious Jews could
somehow convince Gallio that Paul was not teaching according to Jewish belief,
but something new and illegal, opposed to Judaism, then Paul could be thrown
into jail. Or worse.
Well
I can see how the whole outcome of that would depend on what kind of man this
Roman ruler was. What was he like?
Well,
we wondered that, too. Would he be hostile? Would he side with the Jews?
Through the crowd we spotted Paul surrounded by this pack of Jews. And there
was Sosthenes, the new ruler of the synagogue. He had taken Crispus’ place. He
was the spokesman for the accusers in this case. Pointing straight at Paul, Sosthenes spoke up loudly and boldly,
“Your honor, we’ve brought this man to you today because he is persuading people
to worship God in ways that are contrary to our religion, as recognized by the
Romans. What he’s doing is against the law.”
That
sounds like a hard accusation to defend yourself against, because it sounds
like he’s saying, “I accuse this man of disagreeing with me.” What could Paul say in response to that?
I
wondered what Paul was going to say myself. No sooner had Paul opened his mouth
to defend himself, then we heard someone else speak up. It was Gallio, the new
proconsul. And let me tell you. He was
not a man to be trifled with.
What
did Gallio say?
Well,
he didn’t bother with Paul. He just
looked right at Sosthenes and his angry henchmen, he said, “If this were a
matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified
in accepting the complaint of you Jews, but since it concerns points of
disagreement about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I
will not be a judge of these things!" (Acts 18:14, 15, NET)
That
must have been embarrassing.
It
was very embarrassing and didn’t stop there.
He motioned for his sheriffs and they threw Sosthenes and his fellows
out of the courtroom, pushed them right out onto the street, leaving them
baffled and angry like a pack of confused dogs.
Wow!
That backfired on the Jews.
Yes!
And there’s more. Up to that time, we
didn’t feel a grudge against the Jews who rejected the gospel. We felt sorry for them and we prayed for
them. And now we felt even more pity.
The street mob that was watching—and maybe there were other government
officials involved, too—they were fed up with the Jewish bigotry against Paul.
What
did they do?
They
all got rowdy, I mean REALLY rowdy, and began beating up Sosthenes. Poor man.
And I thought, “If only he had accepted Jesus as the Messiah, he wouldn’t have
been in that position.” That beating was Sosthenes’ immediate consequence for
rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. And
furthermore, all the Jews of that synagogue that rejected Jesus, they got
passed by for the Gentiles. That was
their consequence.
“Passed
by”? What do you mean by the Jews getting passed by?
That’s
what Paul later pointed out in his letter to the church of Rome. God gives people chances. But when they
reject the opportunities He gives them, when they refuse to trust Him and
receive the revelation of His love through the cross, He stops pursuing
them. God is a gentleman, you know. He
doesn’t force them or us. He can’t force them, so He goes on to someone else.
God has to let them go, because He respects our personal choice. You can read about it in Romans 1. It’s very
clear.
Well,
let’s do that. I have a Bible here. So
let’s look at Romans 1 and see if we can find what you’re talking about. Verse 21.
“. . . although they knew God, they did not
glorify Him as God, nor were thankful,
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened”
(NKJV). So is this what you’re talking about? Does this passage talk
about God letting people go?
Yes,
it does. Three times it says that God gave people up when they refused to
listen to Him.
So
it talks specifically about giving people up.
Let’s find that too. In verse 24
“Therefore, God delivered them over in the cravings of
their heart.” Ok, here’s another
one in verse 26, “This is why God delivered them over
to degrading passions.” And then
verse 28 looks like it has kind of a summary of everything you’re saying. Let’s look at verse 28 here. “And even as they
did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased
mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (NKJV). Is that
what we’ve been talking about.
That’s
exactly what we’re talking about, and it happened right here in Corinth, when
the Jews did not receive the word about Jesus and what was the result? They
resorted to violence and deception and slander. They eventually dragged Paul to
court and pressed false charges against him. You see, when people reject the
Spirit of God, there is nothing to prevent them from getting ugly and totally
corrupted.
Nothing
left to prevent them from self-destruction then , I guess. Not a pretty picture. Dr. Luke, thank you so much for helping us
understand this story that you experienced personally so much better. One last question. After seeing all of these
troubling events, how did all of this affect you personally?
I
realized more than ever the significance of the good news. God has given us the
medicine so we can be cured, and the big question is, will we take that medicine
so we can be cured? That’s the big question.
What
is that medicine you’re talking?
It’s
the message about Jesus Christ. In Christ is the fullness of God. He’s the
cure. He is the truth. He’s the
solution. Everything we need for life
and health and peace. Receive Him into
your life and He will heal you.
So
the medicine to bring healing to our sick hearts and minds is accepting Jesus
Christ?
Yes!
And the reason is because in Jesus’ birth, His life, teachings and ministry and
in His death, and His resurrection, there is the life-changing, mind-altering,
heart-softening truth about the infinite love of God for us. So if we just take it in to our lives and
drink it in and absorb it into every fiber of our being and into every aspect
of our thinking.
It’ll
bring wholeness.
It
absolutely will. So what we need to do
is read about Him. Get to know
Him. Accept Him as our Friend and then
trust Him. Listen to Him and talk to Him. And then share Him with others. Then
you will experience an ongoing transformation in your life, just like Paul
did. That’s what I want. Do you?
Absolutely,
I think all of us here would like to do that.
Thank
you for joining us on this little imaginative adventure of the apostle Paul in
Acts, chapter 18. Let’s sing our
closing song, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus”.
Gracious Father in heaven. We pray that our eyes may be fixed on Jesus always. That we may be healed and that we may share Him with others. In His name we pray. Amen.
Hymn of Praise: #229, All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:22-24 Hymn of Response: #290, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
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McDonald Road Sermon transcribed by Steve Foster 10/24/09