Many People in This City
Friday morning as I read through Acts 18, one particular line in verse 10 stood out to me. I like to read through a chapter on my own praying for insights & listening to the Lord's voice through the Word, but then because I know there are many others who are more spiritually mature & trustworthy, I will seek to dig further in commentaries. I love Polhill's & Longenecker's commentaries on Acts, but they barely touched on the phrase that stood out to me.So, I had gained some fresh insights from James Montgomery Boice that I posted previously, but his commentary is said to be more introductory & basic, so I didn't go to it at first, but was curious what his thoughts were on the phrase I was hungry to know more about.
I really am beginning to like James Montgomery Boice. For selfish reasons though, because it seems to me that often what I am thinking is in the realm of what he is thinking, so of course, you always enjoy someone who makes you feel as though your thoughts are right!
What jumped out at me from verse 10 of Acts 18 was the phrase, "I have many in this city who are my people." This came in the context of the Lord visiting Paul in a vision & encouraging him to keep preaching with an assurance that he wouldn't be harmed since the Lord had "many people" in Corinth.
So, as a new missionary in a new country in a new city, of course I am thinking, "Maybe God put us here because He has many in this city. Maybe the reason we thought we were headed to one nation, then began to sense the Lord leading elsewhere through prayer, then the reason we landed in this specific city, is because the Lord has many people here."
Enter Boice's commentary. His title for his comments on Acts 18:1-17 is MANY PEOPLE in THIS CITY. "Good start," I thought. Boice says, "Of all the things God said to Paul in his vision undoubtedbly thiswas the most important...God, who alone is able to see the future & determine it, was looking ahead, saying that by the preaching of the Word through Paul's ministry he would bring many people to faith in Jesus Christ. They were his people & they would stand together as a church & bear witness in this most corrupt city" (pg 309).
Now, one area I'm always hoping to gain more wisdom in is in the area of hermeneutics. This passage was given to Paul in his day in a vision by the Lord. Can I possibly apply that to my life? Not necessarily, BUT, again, let's see what Boice says...
"We cannot take a text like this & simply transfer it to ourselves, as if God is saying the identical things to us: Nobody will ever attack you; nobody will harm you; I have many people in this city. However, I cannot help but think that if God has placed us in a particular place, it is because he has a work for us to do there, & for that very reason we should be encouraged & stay on & do it to the best of our ability. It is not because he does not have many people in our neighborhoods or cities but because he does. Our job is to keep on keeping on, knowing that God is with us" (pg 310).
