God’s Protection

Rev. Mark C. Alvis, Union Congregational Church — Easter III, April 22, 2007

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Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”

Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So he had them ejected from the court. Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever (Acts 18:7-17 NIV).

The pastor of a country church was driving home late one night after a board meeting. As he approached a car ahead of him on an isolated stretch of road, he noticed that it was weaving dangerously back and forth on both sides of the road. The pastor quickly surmised that the poor soul driving that automobile was heavily intoxicated. He then told himself that he had better get around this drunk before he killed them both. Just then the drunk driver swerved to the far right side of the road and the pastor punched the gas peddle to speed around him. Unfortunately he hit a pothole and spun out of control into a ditch off the road. When the dust cleared, his car was upside down but the pastor was miraculously unhurt.

The drunk saw it all happen and courteously stopped to see if he could be of help. As he approached the overturned car he yelled out, “Is everyone all right in there?” The preacher was rattled but managed to say, “We are all doing fine. The Lord is riding with me.” After a few seconds of silence, the drunk yelled back, “Well you had better let him ride with me before you kill him!”

Our text for this morning is going to require us to think about God’s protection over the life of believers. Psalm 91:9-11, states, “If you make the Most High your dwelling . . . then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”

Let’s see how God’s promise of protection worked itself out in the life of Paul. If you remember last week, Paul had been threatened by the unbelieving Jews at Corinth and has now begun to share the gospel with the Gentiles of that city. Please follow as I read Acts 18:7-11:

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a [Gentile] worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord [not all the Jews were rejecting Christ]; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized [Corinth was a notoriously wicked city, but not beyond the grace of God].

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

After hearing Christ’s promise of protection to Paul at Corinth, we have to ask ourselves where the Lord was in Acts 16? At Philippi Paul was severely beaten and thrown into jail. And where was the Lord in Acts 17? At Thessalonica Paul was stoned and left for dead. Had Paul turned away from the Lord when he was in those cities and therefore took himself out of God’s protection? No. Paul had been led by the Holy Spirit to go to those cities and was greatly used by God in those cities. So where was Christ’s protection in those cities? His protection was in miraculously protecting Paul from death; He just didn’t shelter him from hurt. Paul should not have been surprised by his severe trials because at the time of his conversion in Acts 9, he was told by Ananias that he would suffer great things for the sake of Christ.

What is our goal as Christians? Is it to avoid all pain and discomfort, or is it to see Christ’s kingdom extended upon the earth? Paul sought God’s kingdom and His righteousness first and foremost. He was willing to testify about Christ at great expense to his personal well-being. But did he have to be beaten and stoned? Think about this: It is precisely because of the great sufferings Paul endured for the sake of Christ, that no one has been able to explain his life apart from the fact that he met the resurrected Christ on the way to Damascus. A number of prominent agnostics have been converted to Christ because only that explanation makes sense. Can people explain our lives apart from Christ?

Someone has said that every Christian is invulnerable to death until God’s plans for his life are accomplished. In Acts 7 and 8 the unbelieving Jews at Jerusalem killed Steven and drove the Christians out of Jerusalem — all except the Apostles, who remained in Jerusalem unharmed and untouched. Later in Acts 12, Herod killed James but could not lay a finger on Peter. The same Apostles who were supernaturally protected in Acts 8 were eventually killed after they had completed God’s plans for their lives. Let’s summarize some truths concerning God’s protection. When we dwell with the Lord and humbly walk in His paths, we are protected from a lot of pain and grief. For example, we don’t have to stay awake at night worrying about venereal diseases because we agree with God that sex is for marriage between a man and a woman. We don’t have to worry about being thrown into jail for stealing or murdering because we believe God’s commandments are right. We won’t be bored because we believe in hard work and in helping others.

However, God’s promise of protection, is not a promise of a pain free life. God’s promise is to be with us in our difficulties and walk us through them. As Christians we also have the assurance that the suffering God allows into our lives will ultimately be for our good and for the furthering of God’s kingdom. When we walk with God, He rewards us with fruitful lives while we are here on earth — and, on top of that, He will grant us unfathomable blessings throughout eternity.

Here is what we need to remember when we are slugging it out in the midst of trials: Spiritual growth is what makes life abundant. Problems, properly responded to, cause us to grow. Our temptation is to run from problems, which robs us of growth, which ultimately causes us to miss the abundant life.

I am not suggesting that we create problems for ourselves. There is a cartoon I had hanging in my office for years showing a man agonizing in prayer and beseeching God with these words: “O Lord, please deliver me from this self-imposed and totally unnecessary trial.” A fair share of my hurts in life has been the result of my own foolishness and therefore I must not blame God for that pain. But, praise the Lord, even when I am suffering from my own foolishness I can still ask God to help me through it and teach me from it.

The troubles that Paul experienced during his missionary travels was through no fault of his own. It was trouble that God saw him through and powerfully used to change Paul into Christ’s image. Christians, we must not run from legitimate problems.

Let’s consider another way in which God protected Paul. Please follow as I read Acts 18:12-17:

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law — settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So he had them ejected from the court. Then they all turned on Sosthenes [who had replaced Crispus as] the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court [every now and then things work out exactly right]. But Gallio showed no concern whatever.

I have read that Gallio took office in July of AD 51. The Jews wanted to catch him off balance and so brought Paul before him when he was still settling into his responsibilities. By God’s providence they picked the wrong man to fool with. He was a statesman and not a politician. His older brother was Lucius Seneca. These men helped to usher in some of the golden years of the Roman Empire, which particularly flourished just after Nero came to the throne. Seneca once said of Gallio, “Even those who love my brother to the utmost of their power, do not love him enough.” He then explained, “No mortal is so pleasant to any person as Gallio is to everyone.”

The Jews thought that Gallio’s pleasantness could be taken advantage of in the courtroom. They were wrong. When Gallio was presiding in court, nice had nothing to do with his decisions. He was committed to what was right and just according to Roman Law. It didn’t take long for Gallio to realize that the Jews could not rightly accuse Paul of any wrong doing. They could only accuse him of not agreeing with their interpretation of the Bible. Gallio was absolutely right in throwing them out of court. It wasn’t the job of Rome to settle the religious differences between the Jews. Because this case was brought before Gallio, who was the proconsul over all Achaia, it set legal precedent for other cities. In other words, not only was Paul protected by Gallio’s decision, but so were many other Christians.

Unfortunately, all this was going to change when Nero finally took the reins of office himself. He did not do that for a number of years since he was only 16 when he came to the throne. However, after he showed his true colors, he had men such as Seneca and Gallio put to death and for a period of about 3 and a half years he ruthlessly killed multitudes of Christians. Where was God’s protection then? Here is how God’s protection showed itself: Nero committed suicide when he thought he lost control of his army. The prophet Daniel had already foretold his doom in Daniel 7:25-26 and 9:27.

Jesus had warned His disciples that persecution and death would come to many of His followers. In Matthew 10:21 Jesus declared, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” But Jesus also went on to say, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” Nero had a lot of Christians put to death, but he couldn’t touch their souls. God’s protection does not allow that.

Was God able to make any good come out of Nero’s great persecution? Yes. It separated the wheat from the tares and purified the church. The greatest number of Christians to be killed for their faith in the history of the world has happened in our life times. We must not think that churches in other countries have as many tares in them as the church in the United States does.

Friends, there are more important things than physical life and physical death. Knowing Christ gives us eternal life that nothing can take away. Jesus told Martha in John 11:25, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.” The Apostle John is the only one who recorded these words of Jesus and it was John alone who was privileged to see their reality. About 30 years after Jesus spoke that truth, John was banished to the island of Patmos for his faith in Christ. Most of the Apostles had already been killed, along with a multitude of other Christians at the hands of Nero. While on that island, John was given a glimpse into heaven and this is what he describes in Revelation 20:4, “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God [listen carefully to what John precedes to say] . . . [and] They lived . . .” It is just as Jesus said, “He who believes in me will live even though he dies.”

The Apostle Paul often escaped death by fleeing; but he didn’t always escape suffering. He testifies in II Corinthians 11:24-27:

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own country-men, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” [probably during his imprisonments].

When did Paul labor and toil without sleep? When he was at Corinth, he initially worked by day making tents and by night teaching God’s Word. He did this until Silas and Timothy rejoined him (Acts 18:5). Paul explains in his second letter to the Corinthians that the church at Philippi sent a financial gift along with Silas and Timothy so Paul could devote his full-time efforts to teaching God’s Word and not have to support himself as well. And yet through all his sufferings, Paul confidently states, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

How could Paul suffer all that he suffered and still say that? We don’t have to guess, he tells us in I Corinthians 15:10: “By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all . . . yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Let’s pray.

Sermon text ©2007 Mark C. Alvis
Bible text © as applicable