the apostle JULY The Jesus movement enraged him.

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1 ACTS 18

2 01 Acts When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads. 15 I asked, Who are you, Lord? The Lord answered, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and testify to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you. 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout the countryside of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do deeds consistent with repentance. Read Acts 9 the apostle The Jesus movement enraged him. With arrest warrants in his hand and murder on his mind, Saul raced toward Damascus in hot pursuit of the hated sect later known as Christians. But the Seeker and Saviour of souls caught up with him before he could reach the city. By the time the dust had settled, Saul walked away ablaze with a vision that transformed him from fierce persecutor into fiery propagator. We know him now as Paul. In obedience to the heavenly vision, he spent several years preaching the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches in major cities of the Roman Empire. In his youth he had studied under one of Judaism s most brilliant minds (Acts 22:3). But now, in the light of Christ, the Holy Spirit turned Paul s first class education into lifechanging revelation. This would come in handy in his work as a missionary-theologian. As non-jewish churches sprung up from pagan soil, Paul had to deal with tough questions he had never faced before. His Corinthian converts, especially, gave him a strenuous workout. They were quarrelsome, divisive, arrogant, immoral, idolatrous, and sometimes downright heretical. But the worst of Corinth brought out the best of Paul. His responses preserved in the Corinthian letters open up for us a window into the mind of Christ. Paul renounces human wisdom, clever rhetoric, and emotional manipulation. He never adopts a finger-wagging attitude: I m the boss and you d better do what I say! On the contrary, he responds as a true imitation of Christ. He pleads with his opponents in humility and weakness. With patience, passion, and precision, he presents his arguments from every possible angle: he appeals to the Scriptures, to the example and teachings of Jesus, to the Corinthians experience, to his own example and experience, and when appropriate, to common sense and cultural norms. He draws in lively images from the Corinthian context too. All this he does for one overriding purpose: that Christ be formed in his disciples (Galatians 4:19). He aims for value change from the inside out that would produce Christ-like behaviour toward brothers and sisters, friends and foes. In this way, Paul models authentic discipleship, servant leadership, pastoral care, and true apostleship. That s about as close as we can get to Jesus. Copy me as I copy Christ, he says (1 Corinthians 11:1). Today start right. First things first. Memorise Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. Meditate on this for a while. Is Christ being formed in you more and more with each passing week, month and year? Do you need to be born again, again? Are your values compatible with Jesus? Today, dedicate your life afresh to the Lord. This 40-Day season, allow the Holy Spirit to lead you deeper in personal transformation. Has God brought a Paul-like figure into your life? If not, ask Him for one. If so, thank Him for this person. Ask the Lord to enlarge his or her sphere of influence so that many more will be tutored in the ways of God, in the mind of Christ. Appreciate this person in a meaningful way today. Know any one like Saul a staunch opponent of the gospel and the Church? Any cynics or mockers in positions of power and influence? Lovingly pray for these to experience Christ in a life-changing way. May their conversion stories become the talk of the town! Do you treasure your education, be it secular or theological? Thank the Lord for the opportunity you ve had. Offer your learning back to God. Let Him turn it into a life-giving force to transform our world. People are complex, prone to pride and rebellion. Got any Corinthians under your care? Instead of whacking them or writing them off, pray for patience to endure. Pledge to imitate Paul, as he imitated Christ. Travail in your soul for their turn around. Ask God to use you to mould their lives until Christ is fully formed in them.

3 02 Acts 18 1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together by trade they were tentmakers. 4 Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. 6 When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothes and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. 7 Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. the city Welcome to our city! We are a thriving commercial and shipping hub. We have efficient communication and transportation links to all parts of the world. We are cosmopolitan, metropolitan, multiracial, and multicultural. We re a society of the self-made. We work hard. Our economy is strong. We attract travellers and traders from near and far. They come for profit and pleasure. We don t disappoint. Our favourite pastimes include making money and making love. We are New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas all wrapped in one. And if you re the religious sort, we have a wide selection of temples, shrines, altars, and gods to choose from. We are Corinth. Julius Caesar founded the city of Corinth as a Roman colony in 44 BC. He populated it with former slaves and displaced peasants who started out by robbing graves for capital. Within two generations the city was churning up millionaires and attracting entrepreneurs and investors from all over. Wealthy Corinth was one of their nicknames. They were as busy as bees. They managed two ports which handled virtually all trade between East and West. During Paul s time, they were undergoing massive urban renewal on the ruins of a much older Corinth. There were ramps and winches, pulleys and cranes everywhere. The place was buzzing with energy and sizzling with sleaze. The five Cs of Corinth, you could say, were Clout, Cash, Comfort, Chian wine, and Corinthian girl a synonym for prostitute. Paul arrived there alone in AD 50. He must have wondered what kind of hearing he would get for the gospel in such a busy, wealthy, and crowded city. The Corinthians were preoccupied with money and love. But Paul was occupied with preaching the gospel (Acts 18:4-5). He wasn t there for shopping or sightseeing. At first he worked on weekdays and spent Saturdays preaching. Later, he went fulltime, sowing the seed of the gospel in every kind of soil. Before long, he reaped a harvest. Within this crowded spiritual and secular arena, Paul introduced the three Cs that made the difference Christ, the Cross, and the Church. What preoccupies you? What are your life s priorities? What keeps you awake at night? What obsesses you? Are you a restless, aimless soul, tossed and blown about by every wind of worldliness and mesmerising culture? Have you fallen victim to the counterfeit gods of this age (money, sex, and power)? Or are you like Paul, totally preoccupied with the things of God, the things of His Kingdom? In silence and solitude, search deep within. Seek the Lord with all your heart. Intercede: May Christ, the Cross, and the Church become the real Singapore dream for you and your family, your church, your company, your cohort in school. Like Paul, determine in your heart to make your life count for Jesus in your generation. Commit to make a difference through prayer and personal evangelism (vs 4 and 5). As Paul s experience shows, in every community, no matter how resistant, there are men and women who are ready to hear and embrace the Good News. Ask for divine appointments. Pray for key conversions top-down and bottom-up to influence many others to follow Christ, even entire households and corporations. Why not? The city of Corinth sure sounds a lot like the new Singapore some are pushing for. Stand in the gap for Singapore s re-making. Pray against the forces of darkness that are out to pervert her for their own wicked ends. Ask God to download His city transformation blueprint into the heart and mind of His Church and the Government.

4 03 Acts 18 9 One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people. 11 He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. 13 They said, This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law. 14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; 15 but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters. the mission It was a tough road to Corinth. It was preach-from-your-heart and run-for-your-life from one city to the next. Paul was beaten and jailed in Philippi, smuggled out of Thessalonica, bundled out of Berea, and put on trial in Athens. When he finally reached Corinth, he was shaking in his shoes (2:3). He probably kept his bags packed, just in case. But then one night the Lord and that usually means Jesus in Acts encouraged Paul in a vision: Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people (Acts 18:9-10). With Jesus as his personal bodyguard, Paul spent eighteen months teaching the Word of God in Corinth. His opponents eventually hauled him to court on a charge of disturbing the religious order. But the judicial authority of the province dismissed the case as trivial, tedious, and not worth his attention. Like other Roman officials in Acts, Gallio found no fault with the new faith. Paul was innocent and Christianity posed no threat to society or government. This case amounted to a charter of liberty for the Church of God in Corinth. Paul was a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. He persevered in the face of persecution. But he didn t go around preaching against this or crusading against that. He simply lifted up Christ and the Cross a message so ridiculous that you had to be a fool to believe it in the first place. So where was the threat? People were free to listen and make up their own minds. The saving power of the gospel and the convicting power of the Spirit did the rest (2:4-5). And many Corinthians came to faith in Jesus. The Singapore Church has received a bit of bad press of late. This is unfortunate and, perhaps, unjust. But in such situations, self-examination is always a good idea. There are, of course, social issues where we need to take a stand. But more importantly, we are to preach peace, make peace, and keep the peace as best as we can (1 Corinthians 10:32; Romans 12:18). Above all, we are to lift up Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If I be lifted up, Jesus said, referring to His death on the Cross, I will draw all people to Myself (John 12:32). Lift Jesus higher! Let Him do the drawing. Humbly thank the Lord for the positive impact and growing influence of the Church in our beloved city state. In worship, exalt Christ as the Sovereign Lord who loves Singapore. Pray for a fresh visitation of God this 40 Day season, a mighty outpouring of the Spirit from an open heaven! Pray for the Church to be wise and winsome as we preach peace, make peace, and keep the peace. Oswald J. Smith warns: The Church that does not evangelise will fossilise. Pray for a re-firing of evangelistic vision and passion. May the Word of the Lord ring loud and clear in our spirit, mind, and soul: Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are My people. (Acts 18:10) Do you love Singapore? Open your heart and allow the Lord to flood your spirit, mind, and soul with His agape love for our beloved nation. Ask Him to infuse His Church with renewed strength to persevere even in the face of mounting pressures. That we will remain undaunted, unafraid, unashamed. That we will close ranks and stand tall to lift Jesus higher every day, everywhere, in every way and be a mega blessing to our city! Pray for your pastor and leaders by name. For the sake of the Gospel, ask the Lord to refresh and reward each one with audacious faith, tenacious hope, and contagious love to keep on keeping on. Pray for incredible favour on all fronts in public relations. Memorise: We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard (Acts 4:20 NLT). For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16 NIV)

5 04 my sunday journal Looking back: Your personal transformation may not be as dramatic a story as Paul s. Nonetheless, it s worth re-capturing. Today, take time to recall your born again experience. What were the circumstances that brought you to Christ? What are some defining moments in your walk with Him? Trace the journey. Celebrate His grace. Looking forward: Christians are fond of praying: God show me your plan for my life. That s a good prayer, but there is a better way to seek God s guidance and direction: God, show me Your plan for my community. Show me Your plan for my city. Show me Your plan for Your world! And then, as a footnote, add: And by the way, God, what s my part in it? This is the key to guidance. As Jesus said, What I see the Father doing, that I do likewise (John 5:19 paraphrase). Today, take time to linger in His presence. Listen. As He downloads His thoughts, jot them down. Commit to fulfill whatever He requires of you. Write freely from your heart. Treat it as your personal letter to God.