Study in theActs of theApostles

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Dark NightOf The Soul

Chapter 18v1-17Presentation 37

IntroductionPaul moved on from Athens to Corinth. The two cities presented a complete contrast, though they had one thing in common, their need of the gospel. Athens was the cultural centre of Greece. Corinth was the commercial capital, a seaport, and a meeting place of the nations and a city of great luxury.

But it was also renowned, as the Vanity Fair of the ancient world such was its reputation for immorality and a sleazy lifestyle. To date this was surely the apostle's greatest challenge.

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Paul Under PressureCareful reading of this chapter reveals Paul under tremendous pressure both from within and without. Its quite absurd to think that Christians should never be under pressure, or almost overwhelmed in their spirits. C. H. Spurgeon one of the most fruitful London ministers of the C19th wrote;

"My depression of spirit is such as few can have any idea of. This week has in some respects been the crowning week of my life, but it closed with a horror of great darkness, of which I shall say no more than this - I bless God that at my worst I found underneath me the everlasting arms"

To even the most valiant servants of God their comes a time when they experience the 'dark night of the soul. What contributed to Paul’s darkness?

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Paul Under PressureFirst, his loneliness in the work. The pressures of loneliness were taking their toll on the apostle [17v15]. The work in Athens had been accomplished alone. Silas and Timothy were still in Macedonia. Paul had then travelled on his own to Corinth.

This is a loneliness not just experienced in the mission field, the Christian in his workplace can feel it. It can be experienced in the family-home where only one member is a Christian. It can be the product of a closed-up personality. Whatever the cause it results in an inability to share ones burdens and when that happens we too easily lose our sense of perspective as did Elijah in 1Kings 19.

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Paul Under PressureSecondly, We need to remember that Paul was coming towards the end of a second exhausting missionary journey, during which he had been beaten to within an inch of his life, hounded from town to town, endured hazards and burdens, recorded and unrecorded all of which must have left their mark, even on his resilient spirit.

We learn from other correspondence that he was ill at this time. The strain of this tour of service was beginning to tell. Physical and mental exhaustion contributes significantly to despondency of spirit.

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Paul Under PressureNot only did he have to cope with these internal pressures there were external pressures too. The city of Corinth had a reputation to live down. Many cities have. In Scotland if you call someone ‘an Aberdonian’, in relation to money, you mean he's tight-fisted.

In the ancient world to describe a person with an immoral lifestyle you would say, “He's playing the Corinthian”. Corinth boasted 1000 prostitutes on hire at the temple of Aphrodite. The appalling vice of that city would have brought near despair to Paul's spirit. Do not underestimate the way in which environment can affects our spirits. Our work environment or home environment are able to pull us down.

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Paul Under PressureThe final pressure was the strength of the opposition he faced. It was particularly fierce in Corinth v12ff. It wasn’t the same old story of the Jewish opposition stirring up the crowd and appealing to the city magistrates but instead an appeal to the Roman Governor. City magistrates had authority only within the city but the Governor had authority over the whole province. This was an attempt to muzzle Paul in Europe.

It was therefore a very critical period in Paul’s ministry. An attempt was made to blacklist him as a preacher so that he would not be allowed to spread the gospel anywhere else in Europe!

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Paul Under PressureDespite immense pressure Paul is found trying to fulfil his God given task v4. nevertheless he had been ready to pack up and move on. Many Christians enter dark waters and experience a "dark night of the soul“. God does not appear to be easing the situation and they are set to throw in the towel, concede their Christian service is unproductive and move on.

All four of the pressures mentioned played their part in depressing Paul’s soul. But God does not leave his children to drown in discouragement and despair. Look at the encouragement he provides in our passage.

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Provision Of EncouragementFirst God sent Paul human encouragement. We read of the arrival of Priscilla and Aquila from Rome v2. They arrived at exactly the right time. Can you see God’s hand in this. The Edict of Claudius requiring all Jews [including those who had become Christians] to leave Rome, must have seemed a disastrous for Priscilla and Aquila. Years later did they se their eviction from Rome as God’s means of establishing a creative, fruitful and lasting friendship with Paul. This couple played a key role in encouraging Paul even after the arrival of Timothy and Silas from Macedonia.

God's timing is never late. He knows when to provide us with the encouragers we need.

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Provision Of EncouragementPaul also received super-natural encouragement from God v9. God breaks in on Paul's consciousness in a vision accompanied by God's word of assurance. That God considered Paul needed such an unusual manifestation suggests the extent of the strain the apostle was under.

What assurance did God offer? That despite the circumstances which seemed stacked against him, God had many people in that city, who though at present in darkness were destined to be called into the light of the gospel through his ministry. Paul stayed on for a further 18 months and experienced remarkable fruitfulness.

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Provision Of EncouragementDoes God continue to supernaturally encourage his despondent children today? Yes, though perhaps not in visions of the night for such things are rare.

But is it any less supernatural or any less an evidence of God's intervention when he speaks with breath-taking power to our hearts through his Word? He can do so as we hear it preached, read or brought to our remembrance by the Holy Spirit.

Are not all of these evidences of God's determination to encourage his people.

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Provision Of EncouragementWe are able to apply the substance of God's word to Paul to all who are engaged in Christian work within and outwith the fellowship. Perhaps you are discouraged, weary, under pressure and feel like throwing in the towel. Into such situations God whispers, My plans are made, the harvest is arranged. Press on into the fruitfulness I have prepared!

Paul drew from personal experience when he wrote to the church in Galatia, "Do not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not" Gal.6v9. The harvest will come!

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Provision Of EncouragementEncouragement came to Paul as he encountered success through his ministry. In v8 we read of the conversion of Crispus- a leader in the synagogue. From Rom. 16 we learn that Erastus the city chamberlain and several members of the nobility were converted. But the work spread over the social spectrum.

Read in 1 Cor. 6v9-11 and you'll get some indication of the impact made by Paul during his stay in Corinth after his vision. As a result many lost, broken, debauched and degraded lives were hauled out of the cesspool of Corinth. They were given new direction, new purpose, and a new dignity as the children of God. God built his church using some of the most unlikely material.

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Provision Of EncouragementAs Paul looked around him early on in his stay in Corinth he must have thought, “Will any of these folk ever change? Am I not wasting my time here?” But God had many people in that city. God grants success in his work and encourages us to press on. To resist the pressure to throw in the towel and to hang on by the fingernails of faith.

The secret of success in spiritual work is outlined by the Psalmist, "He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy carrying his sheaves with him” Ps.126v6.

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Provision Of EncouragementPaul's final encouragement is one of providence. When the Jews brought Paul before the Roman Governor and tried to have him silenced, Gallio resisted their pressure. He saw through their intrigue and was sympathetic to Paul and dismissed the case. Gallio did what Pilate failed to do for Jesus; he stood up against the mob.

God is able to overrule in temporal affairs and make even the wrath of man to praise him. Men will never frustrate God’s purposes. After Gallio's decision, some Greeks expressed their anti-Jewish feeling v17 and gave the Jewish leader Sosthenes a sound beating. Something that would have given Paul no pleasure.

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Provision Of EncouragementWe make an amazing discovery about the man who had been Paul's greatest protagonist when we read the 1Cor1v1 written some years after the events of Acts 18. The letter begins; "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sosthenes, to the church of God in Corinth”. This was we believe the same Sosthenes who had hauled Paulbefore the Roman Governor. During Paul's continued stay in Corinth, Sosthenes appears to have been converted. Now he is one of Paul's travelling companions. Paul is really reminding his readers that God's grace can overcome the fiercest human opposition. How encouraging that is.

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ConclusionThere is an important practical lesson for us all here. And that it is to see the way in which God can transform our suffering and hardships into the fertile soil which in turn will support fruitful Christian service.

Be encouraged in your dark nights of the soul God will finds all sorts of encouragements that are designed to enable you to press on and in turn reap a rich harvest.

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