"Granny's Chapters" Part 24

Chapter XVII.--ST. PAUL FINISHES HIS SECOND APOSTOLIC JOURNEY.

After Timothy and Silas had joined St. Paul, he spake still more plainly and decidedly to the Jews at Corinth, wishing to make them follow the example of their brethren at Thessalonica: but when he tried to convince them that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, they would not listen to him, but "opposed themselves, and blasphemed." Then "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." St.

Paul meant by this, that if by their own obstinacy they _would_ provoke the Lord to punish them, he was not to blame, for he had tried to teach them what was right: and that from henceforth he would preach only to the Gentiles in Corinth, and have nothing more to say to the Jews; and he shook his raiment, as a sign that he would have nothing more to do with them. When St. Paul had thus spoken to the Jews in their synagogue, "he departed thence," ceasing to preach in the synagogue, "and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped G.o.d" as a proselyte of the gate, "whose house joined hard to the synagogue." Most probably he had in his house some large room, in which it was convenient for St. Paul to preach: and here he converted many. "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."

St. Paul was at this time greatly encouraged by a vision. We read, "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,"--many, that is, who, from hearing St. Paul, would become true Christians. Thus encouraged, he continued in Corinth "a year and six months, teaching the word of G.o.d among them."

During the eighteen months which St. Paul spent in Corinth, he appears to have written "The Epistle to the Galatians," which was probably written before that to the Thessalonians. St. Paul had, as we have heard, preached in Galatia before he went into Macedonia. It seems, however, that the Galatians had not continued steadfast in the faith; and the Apostle now writes kindly, to express his surprise at their having fallen away from the Gospel they had once received; warning them seriously not to believe any doctrines contrary to those which he had taught them: for that he had been chosen by the Lord in a miraculous manner to be an Apostle, and the doctrines which he taught to others he had received from G.o.d Himself. He also reminds the Galatians, that no man could obtain salvation by the works of the Law, since none could do them perfectly, and that it is through faith in Jesus only, that all men, whether Jews or Gentiles, can be saved.

Before closing his Epistle, St. Paul gives a list of the works of the flesh, or sinful nature of man, and of the works of the Spirit. This list we shall do well to study, and also to take as addressed to ourselves the Apostle's exhortation, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the l.u.s.t of the flesh": remembering always, that "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and l.u.s.ts."

From Corinth, at this time, St. Paul also wrote his Second Epistle to the Thessalonians; expressing his thankfulness that in the midst of persecutions they were increasing in faith; and he encourages them to persevere, by reminding them of that day when Christ shall come to judge the world, and reward the faithful with everlasting life. He then begged those to whom he wrote, to pray that the Gospel preached by him might be received by others as it had been by them; and he prays for them, that the Lord will "direct their hearts into the love of G.o.d, and into the patient waiting for Christ."

St. Paul was not allowed to rest undisturbed at Corinth, for when Gallio was deputy-governor, or pro-consul, of Achaia, "the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul; and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship G.o.d contrary to the law,"--meaning their own law, the Law of Moses. St.

Paul was going to speak in answer to this charge, but Gallio interrupted him, and told the Jews that if they had any wickedness, or crime, to accuse St. Paul of, he must of course listen to the charge; and adding, "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." Gallio, a heathen, despised both Jews and Christians, and cared nothing about the Law of Moses, whether it were observed or not; therefore he would not listen to the Jews: "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." Why the Greeks beat this Jew, we are not told. Some think that Sosthenes was favourable to St. Paul, and that on this account the Jews stirred up the heathens to treat him in this way. But it seems more likely that Sosthenes was one of the most bitter enemies of the Apostle, and had been particularly anxious to get him punished; and that the Greeks thought that beating him severely, would be the most likely way of putting a stop to any future disturbance from the Jews.

However that might be, "Gallio cared for none of those things": though, as governor and judge of a province, he was neglecting his duty by allowing _any_ man to be treated in such a way. Soon after this, St. Paul left Corinth for a time.

When St. Paul left Corinth, soon after the affair with Gallio, it would seem that he went to the island of Crete, or Candia, and there left one of his companions, called t.i.tus, to direct the affairs of the Christian Church in that country. We know nothing of t.i.tus, except that his parents were Gentiles, and that he was converted to Christianity by St. Paul, who would not allow him to be circ.u.mcised, lest it should be thought a proof of the _necessity_ of circ.u.mcision, which the Church had declared to be _unnecessary_ for those heathens who embraced the Gospel. t.i.tus was highly esteemed by St. Paul, who speaks of him as his "partner" and "fellow helper"; showing that he greatly helped him in his work.

We do not exactly know where St. Paul went to from Crete: there is reason to believe that in trying to return to Corinth he encountered a storm, and was driven by the wind to the western coast of Greece, and there shipwrecked, and forced to take refuge in the city of Nicopolis.

Here the Apostle determined to spend the winter, that he might preach the Gospel to the inhabitants of Illyric.u.m--a country to the north, forming the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Adriatic Sea. From Nicopolis he appears to have written the Epistle to t.i.tus, giving him directions as to his own conduct, and telling him what sort of men he must choose to help him in teaching the people of Crete. St. Paul also told t.i.tus to be very careful to teach all who became Christians, that they must try to be good, and lead holy lives, following in all things the example of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From Nicopolis, in due time, St. Paul went back to Corinth. In the Book of Acts we read nothing of this little journey of St. Paul's. St.

Luke does not of course tell us everything that the Apostle did, and he speaks as if he had remained at Corinth all the time. Speaking of St. Paul's final departure from Corinth, St. Luke says, "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 Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow." This vow must either have been a vow of Nazaritism, already mentioned (vol. ii.

p. 108), which St. Paul had on some occasion taken in order to please the Jews; or some other vow, which he had made in acknowledgment of the goodness and mercy of G.o.d. Cenchrea was a small sea-port, not far from Corinth; and from thence St. Paul and his company, with Aquila and Priscilla, sailed to Syria; and then proceeded to Ephesus, a large town in Lydia. Ephesus was particularly celebrated for its beautiful and magnificent temple, erected in honour of the heathen G.o.ddess Diana, and set apart for her worship. This Diana, one of the pretended deities of the heathen, was supposed to rule all things belonging to the chase--to be the G.o.ddess of hunting. The moon was looked upon as a sign, or symbol, of Diana; and under this form she was also worshipped.

St. Paul, as usual, preached in the synagogue at Ephesus, and "reasoned with the Jews," who seem to have listened willingly, and even wished him to stay on. But "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" (of the Pa.s.sover) "that cometh, in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if G.o.d will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church" at Jerusalem, and kept the Pa.s.sover, "he went down to Antioch," A.D. 54; thus ending his Second Apostolic Journey, which had occupied about four years.

St. Luke has mentioned the places at which St. Paul made any long stay during this time; but as we have already seen, he does not notice all his short visits to other places. In the same way, St. Luke tells us all the most remarkable events that took place during these four years; but of course he cannot tell us _everything_ that the Apostle did or said: just as the Gospels, though they tell us all things needful for us to know, do not relate every word that Jesus said, or every miracle that He worked; because, as St. John remarks, "if they should be written every one of them, the world itself could not contain the books that should be written."

After St. Paul had spent some time at Antioch, he began his Third Apostolic Journey: "he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples,"--that is, he went again to all those places where he had before established Churches, or companies of believers, to see how they were going on, and to encourage them to persevere in their endeavours to serve the Lord faithfully. But in the mean time the Church at Ephesus was not left without a teacher; for Aquila and Priscilla remained there, and were no doubt of great use in reminding others of all that St. Paul had taught them: and of one good work done by them St. Luke gives us an account; for we read, "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."

Alexandria was a famous city, built by Alexander the Great, in the north of Egypt, and celebrated for the many learned men who lived in it. Apollos had there studied the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and being "eloquent," able to speak well, he taught them diligently in Ephesus. But he seems to have heard only of the Baptism of John, and to have known only that men were to receive the baptism of repentance, of which John spake, to prepare them for believing in the Messiah, of Whom John was the messenger, or forerunner. But Apollos does not seem to have understood that the Messiah had come, or to have known of His promise, to give the Holy Spirit to those who would believe in Him and be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Apollos was fervent in spirit, full of zeal; and so, as far as he knew, he taught diligently. "And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue." When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, "they took him unto them," probably to reside in their house, "and expounded unto him the way of G.o.d more perfectly,"--that is, they explained all that he was ignorant of; they spake to him of Jesus and of His Baptism, and showed him that the sins of all who believed, and were baptized, would be forgiven. Apollos listened gladly to the words of Aquila and Priscilla, and then wished to go into Greece, to teach others the things he had learnt. And when he was disposed to pa.s.s into Achaia, the members of the Church at Ephesus wrote to those of Corinth, to receive him into their company.

At Corinth, Apollos, by his earnestness and faith, "helped them much which had believed through grace": nor was this all, "for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ."

Chapter XVIII.--ST. PAUL AND THE SONS OF SCEVA.

We have said that St. Paul began his Third Apostolic Journey by going again through Galatia and Phrygia: then, having pa.s.sed through the "upper coasts" of Asia Minor, he came again to Ephesus, after Apollos had gone to Corinth. At Ephesus St. Paul now found certain disciples, about twelve men, who had been taught by Apollos, before Aquila and Priscilla had expounded to him the way of G.o.d more perfectly: to these men St. Paul said, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism." Then St. Paul explained to them that John the Baptist came to call all men to repentance, and that his baptism was only meant to prepare the way for that of Jesus, and to lead all men to believe in Him, and be baptized in the way which He should appoint. "When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied." St. Paul, anxious to convert the Jews, spake boldly in the synagogue for three months, "disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of G.o.d." But, as usual, many of the Jews were determined not to believe; and not only rejected the truth themselves, but spake evil of it, and abused it to the mult.i.tude, so as to try and prevent their believing it either. St. Paul, seeing this, would teach no longer in the synagogue; and "departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus"; that is, he a.s.sembled all who were willing to listen to him, in a large room or "school"--a name given to those buildings or rooms used for instruction in any kind of knowledge. In the school of Tyrannus, who was a teacher of some science, and probably a convert, St. Paul now preached to all who would come and listen. "And this continued by the s.p.a.ce of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. And G.o.d wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or ap.r.o.ns, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them." They were healed by merely touching those articles which the Apostle had touched. Such a wonderful exercise of miraculous power must have drawn many to listen to the teaching of one, who did such things; and no doubt many, who so listened, became true Christians.

We must now say something of the unhappy state of the province of Judaea at this time, of which the Bible gives no account. A Roman named Felix had been made governor of Judaea A.D. 51, whilst St. Paul was at Corinth: Felix treated the Jews cruelly, and ill-used them to such a degree, as to drive them into open rebellion; and this, of course, led to severe punishments and fresh cruelties. The whole country was in a sadly disturbed state: robbers infested every part of it; men came forward pretending to be the Messiah, for the Jews, who disbelieved in Jesus Christ, still expected the coming of the promised Messiah; murders and executions took place constantly: the High Priest was murdered at the very altar, and many persons were killed in the temple. In short, as Josephus writes, "G.o.d seemed to have abandoned Jerusalem as a detested city, and to have sent the Romans, to punish the Jews for their sin in rejecting and crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ."

During this dreadful time of trouble, a Jew from Egypt came to Jerusalem, and having persuaded many of the unhappy inhabitants of Judaea to believe the lies he told them, he led an immense number of them to the top of the Mount of Olives, promising that the Lord would there work a great miracle, and deliver them and their country from the hands of the Romans. Of course nothing of the kind took place.

Many of these wretched dupes were slain by the Roman soldiers, and the rest fled away, in order to save their lives.

The land of Judaea was indeed in a sad state; the sufferings of the Jews were terrible; but they had deserved them. Often and often had they been entreated to repent and believe in Jesus, but they would not; and now the mercy of G.o.d was forced to give place to His just anger.

Let this be a warning to us Christians, never to force the Lord to take away His mercy from us. If, by our obstinate impenitence and continuance in sin, we force Him to punish us _as we deserve_, we must perish miserably for ever. But G.o.d sees our hearts, and if we are really sorry for our sins, and are earnestly trying to conquer ourselves and resist our evil pa.s.sions and desires, He will have mercy upon us, and not be extreme to mark what is done amiss.

We have seen that St. Paul remained for two years in Ephesus, converting many by his preaching and his miracles. His success as usual raised the envy and anger of the unbelieving Jews, who were anxious to draw the people away from the Apostle, by making them believe that they could work miracles as well as St. Paul. The means they took we shall shortly hear.

The Gentile inhabitants of Ephesus were much given to the study of all the arts of magic, and were considered to be very clever in the practice of them. We have already spoken of sorcery, witchcraft, and magic: how far the professors of them were allowed to appear to do wonderful things by these means, we do not know; but we do know, that any attempt to have such communications with evil spirits was sinful in the sight of G.o.d, and that the Jews were especially forbidden to practice any such arts, or to hold communication with those who did so. In spite of this, many of the Jews did follow these sinful studies.

St. Luke says, "Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus," using that Sacred Name as they would have used any of their magical spells or words. "Vagabond" means wandering; and we generally use the word to describe idle, worthless people, who go about begging or stealing, instead of working honestly to gain their own living. "Exorcists" was only a name given to those who professed to cast out evil spirits by the arts of sorcery.

"And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so." The spiritual state of the Jews must indeed have been sad, when the sons of a priest could be found thus wilfully practising arts, upon which the sentence of death was p.r.o.nounced by the Law! These men, seeing that when St. Paul spake to the evil spirits in the name of Jesus, they immediately left the bodies of those whom they had possessed, wickedly determined to use that Holy Name, in order to heal a man in whom was an evil spirit. And they said, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth" to come out of this man. "And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" The devils were forced to acknowledge the power of Jesus, and that for His sake they must obey His servant Paul; but they plainly told these Jews that they were in no way subject to them: and they gave a strong proof of this, for "the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded." Such an event as this showed clearly that all power belonged to G.o.d alone, and that all magical arts were useless, as well as sinful. "And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified,"--more thought of, and treated with greater respect.

And many that believed, who had, before they became Christians, practised magical arts, now convinced of their extreme sinfulness and folly, "came and confessed, and shewed their deeds,"--expressing their repentance for these former sins.

Nor was this all: "many of them also which (still) used curious arts"

saw the wickedness of such practices; and warned by what had happened, showed their repentance by their acts; for they "brought their books together, and burned them before all men." This was a great proof of their earnestness to put an end to the use of magical arts in others, as well as in themselves; for they did not attempt to sell these books to others, but destroyed them. The books were very valuable, for "they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver"--all this money these men were willing to sacrifice, in order to please G.o.d. This is a _warning_ as well as an example to us, who are too often unwilling to deny ourselves in anything, or make the least sacrifice in order to please or obey our Lord.

"So mightily grew the word of G.o.d and prevailed,"--that is, the blessed truths of the Gospel spread on every side, so that the numbers of Christians increased daily.

St. Paul, who had now been nearly three years in Ephesus, began to think of continuing his journey; and "purposed in the spirit, when he had pa.s.sed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome." Just at this time, St.

Paul heard an unsatisfactory account of what was going on at Corinth.

We have seen that the Apostle had pa.s.sed eighteen months in Corinth, forming a Church there; and that Apollos had afterwards preached the Gospel in that city with great success: but very soon afterwards, false teachers rose up--that is, persons, who were not sufficiently instructed themselves, fancied that they were able to teach others.

But, as they did not themselves understand the whole truth, they could not teach it to others; and therefore their imperfect teaching created great confusion, and unsettled the minds of many believers. Some of these "false teachers" were converts from the Gentiles, who, having been converted by Apollos, now called themselves his disciples; though they mixed up with the truths he had taught them, many of the doctrines and opinions of their philosophers. Some of these teachers on the other hand, were converts from amongst the Jews, who would not give up the idea that it was necessary to keep the whole Law of Moses, observing all the forms and ceremonies ordained by it. These Jewish Christians called themselves followers of Cephas, the Greek word for Peter. These two sets of teachers, both teaching doctrines contrary to the truths of the Gospel as delivered to the Corinthians by St. Paul, made two parties in the Church, so that there were constant disputes and great confusion. Mean time also, many of the native Corinthians, who had joined the Church, began to return to the sinful ways and practices they had followed when they were heathens.

This was the account that now reached St. Paul at Ephesus; and greatly did it grieve him.

So he at once sent into Macedonia two of his company, Timotheus and Erastus, that they might pa.s.s on to Corinth, and try to put an end to all these evil doings: he himself remained at Ephesus a little longer.

Chapter XIX.--ST. PAUL AT EPHESUS.

We have said that St. Paul sent Timotheus and Erastus to Corinth: Timotheus, or Timothy, has already been spoken of: of Erastus we know nothing, but his name is mentioned in two of St. Paul's Epistles.

After Timothy and Erastus had left Ephesus, St. Paul received a letter, written by those members of the Christian Church who had kept steadily in the right way, and not been led astray by either of the false teachers. This letter told St. Paul how much the Church was disturbed by their mistaken teachers, and begged for his advice and direction. In answer to this letter, St. Paul wrote a long one, called "The First Epistle to the Corinthians." In this letter, St. Paul blames the Corinthians for their disputes and differences of opinion; reminding them that he, the Apostle and messenger of the Lord, had taught them what was right; and that therefore they should have kept fast to what they had learnt from him. He tells them, that as they have all believed in one Lord Jesus Christ, they should live together in peace, believing and doing the same things. Then addressing the teachers who had done the mischief, St. Paul warns them, that if they wilfully continue to teach false doctrines, G.o.d will certainly punish them: and he exhorts all the members of the Corinthian Church to listen to Timothy, whom he had sent on purpose that he might show them the whole truth. The Apostle then gives the Corinthian brethren many directions as to their personal conduct, in order that they might lead holy lives on earth, such as would be pleasing to G.o.d, and tend also to their own happiness.

In the Twelfth Chapter of this Epistle, St. Paul gives a beautiful description of charity, that is, of love to G.o.d, and of love to man for His sake: and he shows that those whose hearts are really full of this charity, or love, will be gentle and humble, not thinking much of themselves, or of their own comfort or pleasure; but being ready to give up to others, striving to be kind to all, even to those who are unkind to them. In another part of this Epistle, St. Paul speaks of the resurrection of Jesus, and of the consequent certainty that all men shall in like manner rise from the dead, though now they may not understand how such a thing can be: and he therefore entreats the Corinthian brethren, to keep steadily in the faith taught by the Gospel, doing the work of the Lord always; remembering, that those who do serve Him here in faith and love, will live with Him for ever hereafter.

St. Paul ends his letter, by saying that he shall not come to Corinth at present; but that he hopes to pa.s.s the winter with them.

It was spring when St. Paul wrote this letter, for he tells the Corinthians, "I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost": and the Feast of Pentecost took place about the month of May; so that there were now a good many months before winter, when St. Paul hoped, with the permission of the Lord, to tarry awhile at Corinth.