Free Bible Commentary
“Acts 18:1-11”
Categories: Acts“After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.’ And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”
---End of Scripture verses---
We are still following the Apostle Paul through his second preaching trip. When he went to the city of Athens he was all alone and he stayed there a short but undisclosed period of time (Acts 17:16-34). From Athens Paul travelled on to Corinth. Corinth had long since replaced Athens as the city of greater importance. While Athens was still the cultural center of the Greek world, Corinth had become the commercial and political capital of Greece under Roman rule.
Because of its geographical location, Corinth was destined to be an important commercial center for the Roman Empire. Located on the narrow isthmus that separated mainland Greece from the Peloponnese peninsula, Corinth controlled land traffic going north and south, and sea commerce crossing east and west between Italy and Asia. But along with the financial prosperity came the inevitable vice and corruption. The city was so overrun by sin and depravity that the name Corinth became synonymous with sexual immorality and drunkenness.
This was the environment that Paul preached and taught in for a year and six months (verse 11). Corinth was a harsh, cruel, dangerous place to live. Along with the normal hostilities visited upon Paul and his companions by the unbelieving Jews (verse 6), Paul was subjected to the challenges of living in sin city. It was in this setting that the Lord appeared to Paul and told him, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent” (verse 9). Yes, the Apostle Paul got scared sometimes. We might be tempted to think that because Paul was a highly confident person and because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to preach the word, that he never became frightened by the dangers that confronted him. But that’s just not true. Paul was human just like you and me and sometimes he was beset by fear.
What are the things that frighten you? Of course you know that worrying about these things will not help you and will actually make things worse, but I want to remind you anyway. It is perfectly normal for a human being to be afraid. That’s why people are encouraged time and time again in the Bible to “fear not”. The great news is that if you are a Christian, you actually have a Father in heaven who is eagerly willing and able to carry all of your fears for you. But you have to be willing to turn loose of them and give them up to Him. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7).
It must have been an incredibly amazing and encouraging thing for Paul to have the Lord himself appear to him and lift his spirits. Afterwards Paul was emboldened to preach the word with courage and conviction. But, if you think about it, we are really more privileged than Paul in some ways because we always have the word of God before us, at our disposal, to strengthen and encourage and bless us. It uplifts the human heart to read the words of our Lord Jesus when He tells His brethren to, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
If God is our Father and Jesus is our Savior and the kingdom is our dwelling place, then we have no reason to fear what people our evil or illness or age or death may do to us. As long as we stay faithful to God and entrust Him with our souls, He will carry us home to heaven to live with Him forever. “Comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). This should also encourage and embolden us to teach the Gospel to others as well (as Paul did) because we will want the same blessed assurance for them too.
God tells us in Philippians 4:6-9 to not worry about anything but pray about everything. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
Please read Acts 18:12-22 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
