Edwin Lam Chou Yin （蓝超荣）: Good News Strategy

14 GOOD NEWS STRATEGY (Acts 18 – 19)

As we watch Paul travel and proclaim the good news of Christ, we see a pattern that he follows when he enters each city. It is no different in Corinth and Ephesus. His first attempt is to persuade the Jews concerning Jesus. He begins in the synagogue where they meet, study Scripture and pray. But when the Jews reject his message he turns to the Gentiles. In both cities Paul’s bold step of going to the Gentiles was vindicated by many people hearing and believing the gospel.

A well-thought-through strategy is vital if we are to engage the world with the message that can change it.

Summary: This message is couched in the language used by God himself in the Old Testament when addressing his servants. Both the prohibition “Do not be afraid” and the promise “I am with you” were repeatedly given. Now Jesus said the same things to Paul. He was to continue witnessing fortified by the presence and the protection of Christ, and by the assurance that Christ had in Corinth “many people.” They had not yet believed in him, but they would do so, because already according to his purpose they belonged to him.

This conviction is the greatest of all encouragements to an evangelist. Strengthened by it, Paul stayed for a year and a half in Corinth, teaching them the word of God (18:11). For the word of God are the divinely appointed means by which people come to put their trust in Christ and so identifying them as his.

Read Acts 18:18-28. Paul left Corinth accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila and went to Ephesus, left Priscilla and Aquila there and continued to travel throughout the area where he had gone on one of his first missionary journeys. His purpose was to strengthen the disciples.

Luke wanted to show that Rome had no case against Christianity in general or Paul in particular. In Corinth the proconsul Gallio had refused even to hear the Jews’ charge. In Ephesus the town clerk implied that the opposition was purely emotional and that the Christians, being innocent, had nothing to fear from duly constituted legal processes. Thus the impartiality of Gallio, the friendship of Asiarchs and the cool reasonableness of the city clerk combined to give the gospel freedom to continue on its victorious course.

When we contrast much contemporary evangelism with Paul’s, its shallowness is immediately shown up. Our evangelism tends to be focused on simply inviting people to church. Paul also took the gospel out into the secular world. Our evangelism appeals to the emotions for a decision without an adequate basis of understanding. Paul taught, reasoned and tried to persuade. Our evangelism is superficial, making brief encounters and expecting quick results. Paul stayed in Corinth and Ephesus for five years, faithfully sowing gospel seed and in due time reaping a harvest.

Open

How does the idea of having a strategy for evangelism strike you?

Study

1. Read Acts 18:1-18. What do you learn about Paul in 18:1-4?

2. What drastic action did Paul take when the Jews resisted his message this time (18:6-7)? What are the consequences (vv. 8-10, 12-15)?

3. If you were Paul, how would you have felt when you received Jesus’ message in verses 9-10? How did Paul respond?

4. What do you learn about Apollos in 18:24-28?

5. How is Aquila and Priscilla’s response to him an example to us?

6. Read Acts 19:1-22. As you look through these verses, what good fruit do you see from Paul’s ministry in Ephesus?

7. What opposition did Paul encounter?

8. Read Acts 19:23-41. What were the stated reasons and the real reason for the opposition (19:23-34)?

9. What is the significance of the fact that this is the second time (first in Corinth and now in Ephesus) that the Roman law protected Paul in his ministry?

10. In spite of the obvious cultural differences between first-century cities in the Roman Empire and the great urban complexes of today, there are also similarities. What lessons can we learn from Paul’s ministry in Corinth and Ephesus about the how, the where and the when of urban evangelism?

Apply

The term tentmaker comes from the fact that Paul worked as a tentmaker on his second missionary journey. What are reasons for tentmakers in modern missions? How does this story of Paul at Corinth and Ephesus challenge you to become a more effective proclaimed of the gospel?