“Your Blood be upon your own Heads” ...the Wayfarer 10/4/13

10/4/13
“Your Blood be upon your own Heads”

“And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”

(Acts 18:6)

Today we go to the book of Acts for our message. Here we find Paul, after having already been to Thessalonica, and Athens, carrying the message of his conversion and the gospel of Christ to the people at Corinth.

The distrust, and doubt, which he faced, came in part because of his earlier persecution of the church, but more so here, from the Jews he attempted to convert through his teaching.

For context, let’s backtrack to the beginning of this chapter:

“After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Pricilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.”

(Acts 18:1-3)

Here we find Paul, practicing what he preached, by earning his living while staying with this family. This is only one of the examples given that he believed that he was not to be an encumbrance to those to whom he had been sent.

His strong feelings on this matter is found in several of his letters, demanding that those he recruited to assist in bringing the  message to the Gentiles also  be able to support themselves instead of relying on the generosity  of others.

He felt that bringing the message of Christ was reward in and of itself, and should be done for the love of that message, not for the love of money to be gained by representing himself as a great teacher, though as we now know he was!

“And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.”

(Acts 18:4-6)

Paul found that he faced the same hardheaded, self-righteous, unbelieving, Jews that Christ himself had to deal with during His ministry.

His statement to them was that he no longer had any guilt for their lack of redemption, he had done his part, and it was no longer in his hands to convert them.

This is a hard realization to come to, even now, after the gospel has been proclaimed for so long, by so many, and still refused by so many. It does, however, hold true, yet and still, and will continue to hold true for all who are not heard, by those unwilling to accept the truth that they are given, and doom themselves to the eternal damnation and separation from God, because of their unbelief.

Paul, with sincere love for his own people, attempted to first reach the Jews that were so scattered by Roman rule.

After the rejection by so many of these, he realized that it was time to take the message to others who would listen, accept the message, repent and reap the promised rewards!

“And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.”

Paul, having left his abode, was taken in by one of the believers whose house was built right up against the synagogue. Crispus, the chief ruler of that synagogue, heard Paul’s preaching, and also believed, brought his family to belief and chose baptism despite the majority opinion that Paul was preaching heresy.

This was only the beginning of Paul’s reach, as many more citizens of Corinth were led to the same belief and baptism!

“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, 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.

And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them.”

(Acts 18:9-11)

Paul’s mission in Corinth was not yet over, there was more work to be done among the people there, despite the unbelieving Jews to whom he initially went!

Note that he continued to teach the word of God for another year and a half, as was the intent of the great commission.

As we are about to see in the next few verses, this was no easy task, considering that those  Jews continued not only to ignore the truth of his teaching, but would continue in their self-righteous persecution of him, even as he converted the Gentile populace!

“And when Gallio was the deputy of Achia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat.

Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong, or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it, for I will be no judge of such matters.

And he drave them from the judgment seat.

Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things.”

(Acts 18:12-17)

Just as Christ promised the apostles that they would be persecuted for his name, Paul faced that same persecution.

 The deputy that was in charge refused to hear the case the Jews attempted to bring against him, and told them that he had broken no law that he would prosecute! He drove them away which no doubt further angered those hardheads!

In turn, Sosthenes was beaten for having brought the matter up to begin with, and again, Gallio refused to interfere in what he considered of no affair to the state’s rule.

Paul knew that he had other flocks to find, and feed, and as we will see lived up to that obligation as well.

“And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Pricilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And He sailed from Ephesus.

And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

And after he had spent some time there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia, and Phrygia in order strengthening all the disciples.

And a certain Jew named Apollos born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

And when he was disposed to pass into Achia, the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”

(Acts 18:18-28)

Paul continued on his journey, strengthening the believers everywhere he went. He realized that his ministry was not to be confined to one small area of the known world, but to encompass as much of it as was possible for him to reach.

Each place he stopped, the believers would have had him to stay longer, but he had a ministry to pursue, given him by God, that could not be ignored if that ministry was to be as effective as was intended by Christ Jesus.

Over the years to follow, we find Paul, continually persecuted, continually pursued by the self-righteous, and pagan alike, and continually true to the mission he was given.

As he set about his mission, others were also called upon to assist over those years, and it is through both his efforts and theirs that souls were saved, and that the word of God was imparted to the Jew and Gentile alike.

Paul never stayed only with one group, never promised that only that one group were of the elect that would find the way to the kingdom, but instead, gave strength and guidance to all who believed.

Jesus said, Whosoever will may come!  He also said that Whosoever believed on Him would not perish, but would inherit eternal life.

Any that preaches contrary to this denies the very power of Christ Himself to take the sins of all and forgive that sin when true repentance is given.

The formalities and pageantry and the opulence of the past were no longer to be observed, as was demanded by those who harangued and denigrated him.

It was not through the pageantry, traditions and ceremonies that the kingdom could, or can be reached.

It is still, as it was then, through heeding the words of Christ himself to:

“REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,”  

That gave, and gives hope, of the resurrection, by redemption through repentance and faith in God, His Son and His eternal grace.

Just as Paul evangelized, so should each and every one who accepts Christ Jesus as Savior, profess that salvation to all who will hear the message of love given by him.

Just as Paul warned those that refused to listen to that very message of love, the warning goes out, still today, to the hardheaded, the self-righteous, the pagan, and all who refuse to see the truth of that message, “Your blood is on your own heads!”

 I include the following from a previous sermon, to further emphasize the urgency of paying attention, and listening while that opportunity exists:



 

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord:

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

(Amos 8:11 & 12)

The time to hear, comprehend and take appropriate action is now, tomorrow is far too late.

 

I come to a close once more, confessing my Savior, Jesus, to all who would listen, conveying that same love, promised then and now, conveying the same promise of resurrection and life eternal, promised then and now, conveying the same requirement of redemption through repentance, demanded then and now.

I remain as I always have, that same simple sinner saved by grace through faith in Him, having met that requirement long ago, and continuing to do so daily, an unworthy, but willing soldier, and servant to Him. until I am worthy, through that grace, as I stand at the final judgment seat, and that throne of grace, where He makes intercession for me each moment of my life.

2 Timothy 1:12

¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

Amen and Amen 

the Wayfarer