TRACINGS FROM THE ACTS OF THE
APOSTLES
XIV. THE SECOND MISSIONARY
JOURNEY CONTINUED IN ACHAIA.
CHAPS, xvii. 15—XVIII.
22.
INTO three of the four divisions into which Macedonia was
at this time divided, Paul, Silas, and Timothy had penetrated ; Philippi,
Thessalonica, and Berea had each in turn been blessed with the preaching of the
gospel of the grace of God. And as persecution arose in one place they moved
on, and could do it the more readily, because the above-mentioned towns were
situated in different divisions, and so under different governments, though all
were subject to one central proconsular jurisdiction, the head-quarters of
which for the whole of Macedonia was fixed at Thessalonica. Of three Roman
proconsular provinces in these parts we have mention made in the New Testament,
viz., Macedonia, Achaia, and Illyricum or Illyria. Of work in the first we have
read. To apostolic labours in Achaia Luke by his history will now introduce us.
Of work in Illyricum we have no specific record beyond the brief notice in Rom.
xv. 19. But what a labourer was Paul! How true was it he did not seek to build
on another man's foundation, but carried out as far as in him lay the words of
Scripture, "To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see : and they that have
not heard shall understand " (Rom. xv. 20, 21). "I laboured more abundantly
than they all;" he had previously thus written of himself to the Corinthians (1
Cor. xv. 10). No Apostle was more active or made longer journeys than he did.
Of the band of four who had crossed from Troas to Neapolis, Luke had been left
at Philippi and Timothy had remained for a time at Thessalonica, when Paul and
Silas left it by night for Berea. Now Silas and Timothy, who had rejoined him,
were left for a little at Berea, and Paul went forth alone to break new ground.
The Thessalonian saints had sent Paul and Silas away, thus caring for their
safety. The Bereans did the same for Paul, against whom the fury of the mob in
the city was really directed. But some of them, as we see, went with him all
the way to Athens, manifesting in this marked way their true Christian love.
Athens. - To the centre of Greek intellectual culture the
Apostle had now come. There philosophers congregated. In that city had been
seen, each in their day, great philosophers, poets, orators, and statesmen of
the old world. 'Tis true the golden age of Athens had passed, but philosophy
was still cultivated. Epicureans and Stoics frequented the city, and came
across the Apostle. He in their midst, the one champion of Christian teaching,
the preacher of Divine grace, the leveller of all mere human pretensions, and
the lifter up of the Crucified One as the only hope, refuge, and saviour for
men, - he now perambulated the city, bereft of any Christian companions,
entirely alone. What occupied his thoughts? What concerned him? Luke answers in
part these questions. The Apostle himself supplies further information. His
spirit was stirred, or provoked within him, as he saw that city given up to
idolatry, or rather full of idols. The exercise of the human intellect, great
as it had been in the past, had not lifted the people out of the folly, to say
no more, of worshipping stocks and stones.
Looking round, he would see
everywhere traces of man's degradation. In the city which could boast of a long
roll of names renowned in the heathen world the true God was by most unknown.
Could the Gospel win trophies there? The task might well appal a stout heart;
and the consideration of it might naturally preoccupy any one who surveyed it.
As yet Paul was alone, for the message sent by the Beraean brethren for Silas
and Timothy to rejoin him * with all speed, had not, we may believe, had time
to be delivered and acted upon. Other thoughts, however, had a place in his
mind. He remembered the Thessalonian saints, so brightly and so recently
converted. He thought of them. Very likely many there had known a comparatively
smooth path till the Gospel reached them. How changed were their circumstances!
Fierce persecution assailed them. They were in a position to them very new,
though one with which Paul had been made familiar. He knew well how difficult
it would be, nay, how impossible, unless sustained by Divine grace, for them to
stand their ground. So he ardently desired news of their welfare. How could he
get it ? One way there was, and only one, viz., to send Timothy back there when
he should have rejoined Paul. And much as he would have valued the presence and
countenance of that young disciple, he was willing to be left in Athens alone,
that Timothy might revisit Thessalonica, there confirm the faith of the
suffering saints, and then rejoin Paul with word of their welfare. But this
could not be done in a day or in a week. Paul therefore thought it good, he
writes, to be left in Athens alone, and sent Timothy to establish and to
comfort them concerning their faith (1 Thess. iii. 1, 2). What love in Paul's
heart! What earnest desire for their welfare! What he had been, when there,
like a nurse and like a father (1 Thess. ii. 7, 11), that he was still. With
feelings thus mixed, on the one hand stirred within him at the idolatry rife
around, on the other earnestly solicitous for steadfastness in the
Thessalonians, he began to work alone, and held intercourse with people in the
public place of resort, the market-place, speaking with any that met with him.
He had a word for any and every one, whether Jew or Greek; a gospel, glad
tidings indeed, for all who would receive it; even salvation through believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the Areopagus. With Jews and devout
persons, i.e., proselytes, he discoursed in the synagogue. With others he spoke
in the market-place. And now of an address given on the Areopagus at the
request of certain philosophers we are to be pretty fully informed. Epicureans
and Stoics who had met with him desired to hear more particularly what he had
to say. The market-place probably could not afford that quiet to listen to him
which his questioners desired. Evidently he had something to communicate,
something strange, something new. It was tine latest importation into Athens.
What was it? What the value of it? What the purport of it? Ready certainly Paul
had shown himself to converse with his neighbours, and anxious evidently to
impart to them something which so deeply interested him. What was it all about?
A babbler some thought him. A setter forth of strange gods others described
him. He should speak for himself and expound his doctrine, that philosophers,
men of cultivated minds, and men of intellect might sit in judgment on it, and
decide on its worth or worthlessness. This doubtless the philosophers purposed.
So to the Areopagus they took him, and there heard what must have been new, and
of vital importance to every one of them.
Never before had a Christian
such an audience, and such an opportunity. He was to speak on that hill where
the supreme court of Athens held its sittings. He was to speak to a company
composed of philosophers of the heathen world. He had a subject on which he
could speak, and a text which he could urge with great weight. His subject was
the inscription he had seen on an altar, viz., "To an unknown God"; his text
was a quotation from Aratus, a Cilician poet, but found also, though not quite
in the same words, in a hymn to Jupiter by Cleanthes,* who, born at Assos in
B.C. 300, died about B.C. 220.
* Cleanthes, though the author of some fifty
works, produced very little that was original.
"An Unknown God,"
This the Athenians admitted, and thereby confessed that, with all their
philosophy and intellectual studies, there was One of whom they were ignorant -
this Unknown God.** To make Him known could be no crime, nor an idle
occupation. Paul then would make Him known. He is the God of creation, all
around and above being His handiwork. In temples made with hands therefore He
does not dwell, nor has He need of anything at the hands of His creatures,
seeing that He giveth to them life, and breath, and all things. Who He is, and
what He gives, stated, next follows what He has done. He has made of one all
nations upon the face of the earth, having also determined their appointed
seasons and the bounds of their habitation. Then is stated what He desires,
viz., that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after Him and find
Him, though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live, and move, and
have our being. Now this, which of his hearers would gainsay, for had not
Aratus sung, as he now reminds the philosophers, "We are also His offspring"?
An unknown God near them! True indeed are the words of Zophar the Naamathite,
"Canst thou by searching find out God?" (Job xi, 7). The philosophers had not
discovered Him, the Athenians were ignorant about Him
** It is said that
owing to some plague, the cause for which was unknown, but supposed to proceed
from some god, that altar had been erected. Blood should be omitted.
The subject thus opened out, Paul now preaches from his text. If we are
the offspring of God, as the Athenians boasted, idol-worship must be wrong. The
Deity could not be like an image of stone, or wood, or metal. If men are the
offspring of God, God cannot be like a lifeless idol. Plain indeed was this
deduction. No one could refute it. A death-blow it dealt to idolatry. In this
way the Apostle worked that day. The premises granted, the conclusion was
irresistible. But how skilful and powerful, because divinely led, did Paul show
himself to be. The altar "To an Unknown God" furnished him with his subject,
and he used it effectively. The Creator of all things, the Lord of earth and
heaven, dwells not in temples of human workmanship, nor needs either help or
sustenance from the creature. Then as regards objects of worship, the words of
Aratus, confirmed by Cleanthes, and endorsed by Paul's audience, showed the
utter senselessness of bowing to stocks and stones as the likeness of
God.
These points established, the altar and the poet pressed into his
service, he went on to speak to the consciences of his hearers. God, whom he
declared to them that day, had a message for each one of the audience. And Paul
was there to deliver it. God, the to them Unknown God, was calling on men
everywhere to repent. And this it was imperative on all men to obey, if they
would escape His wrath, "seeing that He hath appointed a day, in which He will
judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He
hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead "
(xvii. 22-31). The babbler, as some thought Paul, was the messenger of the God
of heaven. The setter forth, as otkers viewed him, of strange gods, was
commissioned to tell them about the Unknown God, whom they had for
longVignorantly worshipped. Which of the philosophers, who had passed by that
altar, ever expected to have a message directly concerning himself sent from
that Unknown God ?
What language was heard that day on the Areopagus!
What a contrast to that which had often been there listened to, and to that
which generally took place! Sentences of death had commonly been there
pronounced, and at times not always in righteousness. Here was an announcement
of coming judgment, which concerned all the audience, and judgment in
righteousness too, which must issue in final condemnation, unless averted by
repentance. Then the earnest pleader, so different from those who had stood
there before him, was not pleading for his life, nor petitioning for a
favourable sentence from his judges. He was there to plead with all his
audience that they should flee from the wrath to come. Would any ask, with what
result? As for the philosophers some mocked; others promised to hear him again.
In these dispositions of mind he left them. He had given his message. He was
clear of their blood. Nevertheless his visit to Athens was not without some
fruit. For "certain men clave unto him, and believed, among the which was
Dionysius an Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them"
(xvii. 34). The interview with the philosophers on the Areopagus had not ended
to the damage of Christianity. Some might scoff. But scoffing was not argument.
Others might promise a further hearing. That showed their inability then and
there to refute what had been advanced. But all of them, in a coming day, will
acknowledge the importance of the Word.
Corinth. From Athens Paul
proceeded to Corinth, the then capital of Achaia. He left what had been the
great seat of learning to work in the centre of licentiousness; for if Athens
was famed for its philosophers, etc., Corinth bore an unenviable reputation for
immorality, in connection especially with the temple of Venus. Here he first
met with Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently left Italy because that
Claudius Csesar had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. This godly
couple now became acquainted with Paul, and commenced a friendship which lasted
for life. Their being of the same trade - tent-makers - may have first drawn
them together. The friendship, however, now formed was enduring; and when Paul
left Corinth, and touched, upon his way to Judea, at Ephesus, Aquila and
Priscilla accompanied him thus far, and there remained for a time (1 Cor. xvi.
19). Aquila being a native of Pontus, Asia Minor was his country. We never read
of his presence in Judea. These two were zealous labourers in the Lord's work.
Apollos owed much to them, and Christians in towns where they resided were
indebted to them for a place in which to meet to show the Lord's death. Acts
xviii. 26 tells us of the help they were to Apollos. 1 Cor. xvi. 19, Rom. xvi.
3-5 acquaint us with their service to Christians by an assembly meeting in
their house, as well as their service to Paul in laying down their own necks
for his life, a service to be thankfully remembered by all the assemblies of
the Gentiles. To the last Paul had them in remembrance (2 Tim. iv.
19).
As at Athens, so at Corinth, as we have said, the Apostle had to
commence the work alone. Activity indeed characterised him. So without either
Silas or Timothy, he began to labour in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading
both Jews and Greeks. Rejoined by these two, he was constrained, we read, by
the word (not, as in the Authorised Version, ''in spirit"), testifying to the
Jews that Jesus was the Christ. The everlasting welfare of his countrymen he
ardently desired. Definite results now, followed. The Jews opposed and rejected
the Word. Paul, then, repudiating all further responsibility regarding them,
shaking out his raiment, - an act illustrative of bis determination, - left
them with the solemn words, "Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean :
from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles" (Acts xviii. 6). Leaving the
synagogue, he taught in the house of one Titus (or, Titius) Justus, contiguous
to it. This man was a proselyte, for he worshipped God, and doubtless was
favourable to Christianity, so had the honour of providing a suitable
meeting-room in which the Apostle could teach and preach. The Lord thus watched
over the Gospel.
Progress. Despite the undisguised hostility of
the Jews the work spread, and for a time they could take no public steps to
prevent it. Crispus, a ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all
his house. Many of the Corinthians, too, received the Word, and by baptism
openly professed themselves to be disciples of Christ. The word told.
Consciences were reached. Public profession was made. Now had we only Luke's
account we should never have known what exercises of heart Paul at this time
passed through. He evidently felt it was no light service to labour in Corinth;
and the First Epistle to the Corinthians acquaints us with the spirit in which
he began in that city. Does not this remind us of the mistake that may be made
in jumping to conclusions on matters about which we have not full information ?
Who would have thought, when reading of the victorious progress of the work at
Corinth as given by Luke, - who, we say, would have supposed from that account,
what exercises of heart the Apostle was passing through?
On this his
first visit he had determined to know nothing among them but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified (1 Cor. ii. 2). Natural gifts they valued - as excellency of
speech and of wisdom. Of the first he was destitute. His speech was
contemptible (or, of no account, 2 Cor. x. 10). To the second he would not
resort. "The Jews," he writes, "require signs, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and
unto the Gentiles" (not, Greeks) "foolishness; but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor.
i. 22-24). Enticing words of man's wisdom he set aside, desirous that their
faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. True
workman he was, and solid building was that which he vulued. And, knowing what
they were naturally, he was with them in weakness, in fear, and in much
trembling (1 Cor. ii. 1-5). From the Acts who would have gathered all this?
Again, so careful was he that his ministry should not be blamed, that save
Crispus, Gaius, and the household of Stephanas he baptised none, lest any
should say that he had baptised unto his own name (1 Cor. i. 14). Nor would he
take the smallest thing from them towards his support while labouring in their
midst. From Macedonia he received help and needed help, but none from the
Corinthians (2 Cor. xi. 9). The wants which his profits at tent-making could
not meet, free-hearted contributions from the Macedonian saints supplied. Was
this caprice on his part? No. For whilst working in this spirit the Lord's
approval was communicated to His servant in a vision at night. "Be not afraid,
but speak, and hold not thy peace: for I am with thee, and no man shall set on
thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city" (Acts xviii. 9). The
servant was in his right place. He was the instrument whom the Lord would there
use. The Shepherd knew where Paul was, the circumstances which surrounded him,
and the encouragement which he needed, and provided this last. The Shepherd
knew, too, the sheep that he had in that licentious city, given to Him of His
Father. His eye was on them, and their everlasting welfare He would ensure. For
that Paul had been guided to the city, and he should have the honour, the
privilege, by his labours of making them manifest.
Chronology.
At Corinth nobody did set on Paul to hurt him. His experiences at Lystra,
Philippi, and Thessalonica were not at this time repeated. Opposition, however,
was organised, and an appeal to the newly-arrived proconsul the Jews were
determined to make. The new proconsul, we say, for Gallio had just come to take
charge of the province of Achaia. Here, then, we get another note of time. We
have seen that the famine predicted by Agabus, and the awful end of Herod
Agrippa I., had thrown light on the period that had elapsed between the
Crucifixion, Ascension, and Pentecost, and that visit of Paul and Barnabas with
supplies from the brethren at Antioch to their brethren in Judaea. We can now
estimate the length of time that elapsed between that visit and the attempted
prosecution of Paul at Corinth before the proconsul's tribunal. In the
thirteenth year of the reign of Claudius Caesar, A.D. 53, Gallic arrived at
Corinth as the new proconsul. In the fourth year of Claudius Caesar, Herod
Agrippa died, A.D. 44. Nine years, then, had passed during which we have had
recounted the first missionary journey, and the second so far as it conducts us
to the Apostle at Corinth and the prosecution attempted there. But as he had
been labouring in that city for eighteen months previously, we must fix Paul's
arrival at Corinth at about the beginning of A.D. 52, at which time the edict
banishing Jews from Rome was issued, which sent Aqiiila and Priscilla to
Corinth. As little did Claudius know what he was doing by that decree for Paul
and the Church of God, as did Augustus what he was doing for the fulfilment of
the word of prophecy, when he issued his decree for that enrolment which took
Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the birth of Christ.
Gallio. To
return. Marcus Annaeus Novatus having been adopted by Lucius Junius Gallio, was
called Junius Aunfeus Gallio, and is the man of whom Lnke now writes. He was
the brother of Seneca the philosopher. This most amiable man - if his brother
Seneca rightly described him - and one of easy temper, now occupied the place
of authority as proconsul. To him the Jews brought their complaint, expecting,
doubtless, a willing ear. Their plot, however, completely failed. Gallio
refused to take cognisance of their charges. Questions of Jewish law did not
come within the sphere of his judicial powers. Any matter of wrong, or wicked
villainy, he would, as he said, have listened to. Questions of their law, and
disputes about words and names, he was not sent by the emperor to sit in
judgment upon. So he drove them from the judgment-seat. Attempting further to
compel him to listen for fear of a tumult being raised, the beating of
Sosthenes being evidence of the strong feeling that had been aroused,* Gallio,
a man of imperturbable temper, was proof against any such demonstration. He
refused to interfere. He cared for none of those things.
* It is a question
who beat Sosthenes, - the Greeks, as D, E, H, L, V, state, supported by the
Syriac versions; or the Jews. The oldest MS., A, B, with the Codex Sinaiticus,
suppgrted by the Vulgate, omit "the Greeks." With that omission accepted, the
passage seems rather to refer to the Jews as those last named. Probably
Sosthenes was inclined to Christianity already, or perhaps had declined to
support the prosecution attempted by others, and hence the displeasure of his
countrymen. Opinions on this matter are much divided.
Tactics.
What efforts were made to stop the work! Unwearied was the enemy, and versatile
were his attacks. On the first missionary journey tumults were raised at
Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, and at the last Paul's life was attempted by
stoning. On the second tour different tactics were employed. Perhaps in Europe
the way of hindering in Asia would not have succeeded. So the ruling powers
were invoked at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Corinth, and legal processes were
resorted to. At the first-named the charge preferred was one of having broken
the Roman law by the unauthorised introduction of a new object of worship. At
Thessalonica tho accusation assumed the form of treason against Caesar. The
most turbulent people - the Jews - professed thus great concern for the
Imperial honour and authority. What a farce! At Corinth new ground was chosen.
Paul was a breaker of the Jewish law, teaching something contrary to the Mosaic
law. But none of these attempts, based though they were on apparently legal
grounds, were successful in stemming the movement. It went on in spite of each
and all; and Gallio having refused to entertain the charge made by the Jews,
Paul was at liberty to continue his labours, which he did for a time, and then
departed in peace on his way to Jerusalem, accompanied, as far as Asia, by
Aquila and Priscilla.
To Syria. Paul, we read, having tarried
after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for
Syria, having shorn his head at Cenchrea: for he had a vow (xviii. 18). To whom
the last remark refers has been much questioned. We believe Luke referred to
Paul. We know no reason why he should not have made a vow, ignorant as we are
under what circumstances it was made; though Rom. xvi. 1, 2 may afford a little
light on the matter, from the way the Apostle there writes of Phoebe, a
deaconess of the assembly at Cenchrea, who carried subsequently the apostolic
letter to Rome. "A succourer of many, and of myself also," he says. It may well
have been that, overtaken with some illness, he had been indebted to the
ministrations of Phoebe, and in gratitude to God for his recovery had made a
vow. Putting Acts xviii. 18 and Rom. xvi. 2 together, the latter suggests a
possible explanation of the former. Reaching Ephesus, he left Aquila and
Priscilla there, he himself entering into the synagogue and reasoning with the
Jews. Allowed now of God to visit that city, his reception by his countrymen
was encouraging, since they asked him to abide for a little time. Desirous,
however, to visit Jerusalem, he consented not to their expressed wish, but
promised to return to them if God permitted. The historian's real account of
his answer is much shorter than that commonly ascribed to him, so we reproduce
it, quoting the Revised Version :"And when they asked him to abide a longer
time, he consented not; but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return
again unto you, if God will, he set sail from Ephesus" (Acts xviii. 20, 21).
Ending his voyage at Caesarea, he went up and saluted the Church, and went down
to Antioch. Thus came to a conclusion his second great missionary journey. What
an interesting tour it must have been. Not only in Asia Minor had he preached -
breaking up, too, entirely new ground - but to Europe the work had extended,
and in the capital cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth he had
planted the standard of the cross. How true is the description he gives of
himself a few years later, when writing to the Corinthians : "Thanks be unto
God, which always leadeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through
us the savour of His knowledge in every place. For we are a sweet savour of
Christ unto God, in them that are being saved, and in them that are perishing :
to the one a savour from death unto death ; to the other a savour from life
unto life" (2 Cor. ii. 14-16). What a description of his apostolic service !
Truly the word was not spoken in vain.
Divine Guidance. We have
headed this journey Divine guidance. This was a special feature of it. Human
wisdom did not direct the Apostle. In traversing, as we have seen, Asia Minor,
he had desired to enter the province of proconsular Asia, but the Holy Ghost
forbade it. Seeking to turn aside north ward to Bithynia, the spirit of Jesus
barred the way thither. Neither to the right hand nor to the left could they
turn, so they journeyed on to Troas ; for it was God's purpose that in Europe,
not in Asia, Paul and his company should at that time find their proper sphere
of service. The plan of the work and the development of it were both of the
Holy Ghost. And, when they had reached Troas, Paul understood the reason and
the wisdom of his being diverted from his purpose. The time had arrived to
carry the gospel into Greece, so a vision appeared of a Macedonian entreating
Paul to help them. Reaching Philippi, there was work to be done in the prison.
But for that Paul and Silas must be imprisoned.
In a way surely never
expected, the Lord worked in that capital of a district. Then at Corinth, the
capital of Achaia, meeting at first with comparatively little success combined
with determined Jewish resistance, was he in his right place? The Lord Jesus by
the vision at night comforted him, and acquainted him with His purpose of grace
toward souls in that licentious city. Thus again Divinely guided, the Apostles
remained, and met with great success. Human wisdom, it was plain, had in all
this no place. How needful then is Divine direction, and the Holy Spirit's
superintendence, when even an Apostle could be at fault as to the field of
operation to be occupied.
Another feature in connection with this
journey is the character of the only address during it of which Luke has given
us an account - an address which he did not hear. For a purely evangelistic
discourse by the great Apostle of the Gentiles we should turn to Acts xiii. For
his manner of reasoning with ignorant heathen we should read his few words
spoken on the spur of the moment at Lystra. At Athens and on the Areopagus how
different is the tenor of his discourse! On this occasion he is more on his
defence; but availing himself of the inscription on the altar that he had met
with, he introduced to them the Unknown God, and demonstrated the insensate
folly of the most intellectual of mankind. If the Greeks called themselves the
"offspring of God," how could they worship stocks and stones as their gods? The
boast of their poets Aratus and Cleanthes demonstrated the folly of their
practice. If human wisdom could be at fault as regards the work of the Lord, it
was indeed a blind guide to lead its possessors into the knowledge of God. The
tenor then of this discourse is in perfect harmony with the special
characteristic of this journey, and explains why it has been preserved in the
pages of inspiration. Idolaters were being guided to see the folly of their
ways, and to learn who was the God hitherto unknown to them. Evidently God was
working, and the Holy Spirit, the Divine Person dwelling on earth, was
directing. Peter had been led, contrary to his preconceived ideas, to enter the
house of Cornelius, for the time had come for Gentiles to share in the
blessing. And Paul had been led against his purpose to cross over into Europe,
for the time had come for Greece to be evangelised. The time and the field for
service are ordered by God. The Holy Ghost directed then, and directs still.
Would that this were more remembered, and room given for Him to lead in the
work.
Luke's Accuracy. An infallible guide there is in the Church
of God, but not a human one. That should give confidence as to the carrying on
of the work, despite the hindrances from the enemy and the failures of the
servants. And now one would call attention, ere closing our remarks on this
second journey, to the accuracy of the historian, as shown in the way he
mentions the authorities in different cities. We have seen how accurate he was
in describing Sergius Paulus as the proconsul of Cyprus (p. 187). He is equally
accurate in terming the magistrates at Philippi preetors and their officers
lictors (xvi. 20, 35). When writing of the authorities at Thessalonica, he
terms them politarchs (xvii. 6). And later, as we shall see, speaking of
certain authorities at Ephesus, he styles them Asiarchs (xix. 31). All these
were the local authorities in the different cities, the Roman governor, or
proconsul, being over them as ruling in each province. Luke then, by giving
each its correct title in these different cities, shows that he knew well what
he was about, and this mark of accuracy should increase confidence in him as a
faithful historian.
The Written Word increasing. That missionary
journey so fruitful in blessing has an additional interest for us. It
occasioned the first addition to the written revelation of God which bears the
name of the Apostle Paul. He had evangelised, as we have seen at Thessalonica,
and his heart, we learned from himself, was much bound up with the converts
there. And when hindered from revisiting them as he had wished, and that more
than once (1 Thess ii. 17, 18), for Satan, in some way not explained, prevented
it, he had sent Timothy to see after their welfare, whilst he himself remained
alone at Athens. Hearing from Timothy on his return of their steadfastness in
the faith, despite all their persecution, he dictated his first letter to them,
which was shortly followed by the second. From this time the Apostle
contributed, under the guidance of the Spirit, to enlarge the collection of New
Testament writings, then in its infancy, with Epistles bearing his name,
addressed to local Churches, as those to the Thessalonians, or to several
assemblies in a region, as that to the Galatians, as well as some addressed to
individuals. Thirteen Epistles in all are generally ascribed to him, of which
twelve bear his name. To this subject we shall refer again, only remarking here
that Paul dictated rather than wrote the most of them. Writing with him, for
some cause, whether from impaired eyesight or what, was a difficult matter
(Gal. vi. 11, Revised Version). Employing an amanuensis, he, however,
authenticated each one, to prevent any mistake as to those which were his, by a
salutation, - written, we suppose, always by himself. "The salutation of me
Paul, with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle: so I write. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all" (2 Thess. iii. 17, 18). Now
this, whether in the shortest form, as in Heb. xiii. 25, or in the longest (2
Cor. xiii. 14) is found at the close of all Pauline Epistles, but in none
other. And not till Paul had passed away for some years did any other New
Testament writer adopt anything like it. Then John, in closing the Revelation
(xxii. 21), used very similar language.
A Characteristic. A great
extent of country had now been evangelised, and flourishing assemblies had
sprung up in towns and in districts. But where are they? How many cities in
which Paul laboured are in ruins, or if not that, the work which had been
carried on has died away! Antioch in Syria, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium,
Lystra, and Derbe in Asia Minor; Philippi, Thessalonica, Beraea, Athens, and
Corinth in Europe; in these had he preached, and fruits of his labours in all
were found. What can we say of them now? Antioch in Syria still survives, but
no Christian Church, it is said, exists within its walls. Antioch in Pisidia,
with Lystra and Derbe, are in ruins. Iconium still remains, a town of some
importance. Of the cities in Macedonia and Greece above mentioned Philippi is
in ruins ; of Corinth its glory has departed ; Berea, Athens, Thessalonica
still remain. Then too the city of special prominence in the Apostle's third
journey - Ephesus - is marked only by its ruins. A melancholy thought this
gives us; yet, on the other hand, it is quite in keeping with the
characteristic of the Christian Church, which is heavenly, and has not its
permanent home on earth. In this it differs from Judaism. In the latter, one
house - the Temple - and one altar are constituent elements connected with that
worship, and both of them must be on earth. But we are to worship God in spirit
and in truth, and should worship by the Spirit of God (John iv. 24 ; Phil. iii.
3). Cities therefore may fall into decay and ruin, and ecclesiastical buildings
be destroyed, yet the Church of God abides, and true acceptable worship can be
rendered independent of localities, or of material buildings. The Divine
infallible Guide too, who was on earth in the Church at its beginning, is with
her still (John xiv. 16). Human infallible guides were not in apostolic days,
nor are there any such now. Only one infallible Guide, and that one Divine,
there ever was since Pentecost, and He is here still. With Him, we have the
Word of God as well, a guide in the confusion around, and the storehouse of
instruction in the things of God. To this last let us cleave. And in proportion
as the Holy Ghost's presence is owned, and His guidance sought, light will be
cast on the written Word, and rich blessing will result.
Go To Chapter Fifteen