The Book of Acts
Chapter 18
Paul at
18:1 After these
things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 And
found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus,
lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had
commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft,
he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
A. God’s
Care of Paul
After Paul had preached
to the people of
Personally, I believe that this
missionary journey has been filled with miles of hard travel for Paul. Please
remember that Silas & Timothy are still back at hessalonica, so Paul is
alone. I also wonder if Paul was heavy hearted and burdened still over the
idolatry, ridicule and rejection he found in
In
4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every
sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5 And when Silas and Timotheus
were come from
B. Paul’s
Care for God
Even in
Shortly, Silas and Timothy came from
Thessalonica and
6 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.
C. The
Jews Care for God
The Jews that
Paul preached to, reject the message and blaspheme. They are even said to “oppose
themselves”, which may mean they are cutting of their nose despite
their face or they are biting the very hand that feeds them. The scripture
prophesied this would happen in Matt 21:43 “Therefore say I unto you, The
Paul shook his raiment and said “your
blood be upon your own heads: I am clean: from
henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.” Because Paul has preached unto the Jews with a sincere burden and
for their rejection, Paul is clean of his responsibility to preach to the Jews
and turns to the Gentiles with the gospel message.
7 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.
D. Justus
Care for God’s Man
Paul left the
place where he had just spoken and was invited into the home of a man named
Justus. Justus is a worshiper of God and will provide a place for the man of
God, Apostle Paul, to stay, while he is in
8
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.
E. Crispus’ Care for God
Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in
9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not
afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
10 For I am with thee, and no man
shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11 And he continued
there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
F. God’s
Care for Paul
I wonder if Paul
received worrisome threats, living in the home of Justus, right beside the
synagogue. Because the Lord spoke words of encouragement to Paul in a vision,
telling Paul “not to be afraid for I am with you, I will protect you and I have
people in this city to help and hear you.”
These words were encouraging to Paul and he stayed in
12 And when Gallio was the deputy
of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought
him to the judgment seat,
13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14 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:
15 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. 16 And he drave
them from the judgment seat. 17 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 those things.
G. Gallio’s Care for God
The unbelieving
Jews now oppose Paul again. Remember God promised Paul that he would be
protected but not unopposed. These unbelieving Jews bring Paul before the Roman
proconsul of Achaia, Gallio. Paul was just about to
speak when Gallio stopped him,
maybe this stopped a gospel message from Paul. Nonetheless, Gallio
said to the persecuting Jews “this matter is not a civil matter, but a
religious matter” and said “I will not hear this” and Gallio
drove them out.
Then the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue and beat him
openly. The Greeks were upset with the
Jewish persecution of Paul and thought Sosthenes was
the ring leader of this persecution and beat him for it. But later on Sosthenes must have gotten saved as Paul mentions him in I Cor 1:1.
The beating took place just outside
the judgment seat and Gallio, the deputy, did not
care. In fact, Gallio did not care for the things of
God as there was no room for Jesus in Gallio’s
heart or life. He had no concern for eternal life, just concern for pleasure. (II Tim 3:4 lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.)
Remember Jesus birth, where they laid him in a manger because there was
no room for him in the inn.
Say friend, are you concerned, do
you care about Jesus? He cares about you!
The
Completion of Paul’s Second Missionary Journey Acts 18:18-22
18 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.
A. The
Plan
After a good
while, Paul leaves
19
And he came to
B. The Planting
Paul then leaves
Cenchrea and sails into the Syrian region, to the
city of
22
And when he had
landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to
C. The
Pilgrimage
Paul leaves
Paul’s
Third Missionary Journey Begins Acts 18:23-28
23
And after he had
spent some time [here, he departed, and went over all the country of
A. The
Policy
Paul spends
sometime back in
24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at
B. The
Program
Remember back at
This Apollos
stood in the synagogue to preach and
Apollos
believed this message that