Acts 18:1

After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came unto them. And because he was of the same craft... he abode with them and worked, for they both, by occupation, were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

When the apostle came alone to the wickedest city of his journeys, he resolved to know nothing but Christ crucified.

Returning to Acts: Paul Travels Alone to Corinth

We've actually been studying through the book of Acts, taking little detours to study the letters as they were written chronologically in context with the timeline. It was while Paul was in Corinth, about AD 51–52, that he wrote his two letters to the Thessalonians. So for the last couple of months we've been in those letters, and now we return to Acts 18.

In verse 1 we read that after these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. For the first time in his missionary journeys, Paul is traveling alone. This is a big deal. On his first journey he was accompanied by Barnabas. On the second, Silas joined him, then Timothy in Galatia, and Luke at the borders of Macedonia. But Luke was left in Philippi, Timothy in Thessalonica, and Silas in Berea. Now Paul makes the roughly 55-mile journey west from Athens to Corinth completely alone, on uncharted ground.

The City of Corinth: A Center of Corrupt Life

Athens was the cradle of Western civilization, the birthplace of democracy, an intellectual capital filled with philosophers. But Corinth was the center of sensuality. The great Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan said that Athens was the center of clouded light while Corinth was the center of corrupt life.

It was a wicked place. When Paul wrote Romans 1:18–32 during his second trip to Athens, describing the wrath of God against ungodliness—those who suppressed the truth, became vain in their imaginations, professed themselves wise but became fools, and were given up to uncleanness—I have a feeling he had the wickedness of Corinth in mind.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness... Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools... Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts.

Corinth was the Las Vegas of the first century—what happened in Corinth stayed in Corinth. To be called "a Corinthian" was an insult meaning you were sensual and given over to lust; "Corinthian women" meant prostitutes. The most famous fixture of the city was the temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of sex, atop the Acropolis. Every night more than a thousand temple priestesses—really temple prostitutes—came down into the city where people worshiped their false god in immoral and wicked ways.

Corinth was also the commercial capital of the region. Because of its position on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, with a four-mile isthmus, merchants would port there, drag their boats across the land bridge, and re-launch them—safer and quicker than sailing around the peninsula. So the city was multicultural, multilingual, given over to sensuality and idolatry. And Paul now comes to it by himself.

"In Weakness and in Fear": A Change in Method

Paul's solitude and the city's reputation are likely what caused him to come with a timid nature. In 1 Corinthians 2 he says, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, I came to you in weakness and in fear and much trembling." He entered a city of at least 100,000 people—some say 200,000—and came in weakness.

It's important to remember what Paul did at Athens. He preached among the philosophers at Mars Hill with great eloquence, incorporating their poets, their history, their idolatry into his message. It was a powerful sermon. But at the end of Acts 17, when he reached the resurrection of the dead, "some mocked, and others said, we will hear you again on this matter." Most either mocked or dismissed the message—very similar to what we experience today.

I have a theory that on that 55-mile journey from Athens to Corinth, a change took place in the manner in which Paul brought the gospel. In Athens he was so culturally relevant. But in Corinth he wrote, "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified." He says, "I determined to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and him crucified." No pragmatic pleas, no enticing words, no excellent speech or wisdom—just Christ.

I believe Paul was humbled at Mars Hill. Like you and me, he was tempted to be relevant, to use intellectual-sounding arguments to persuade people. But something changed. We are tempted the same way. Yes, there is a place for apologetics, but at the end of the day you can have the most reasonable argument for God and still it comes down to faith. Someone must put their trust in a man in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago who is God, who died on a cross and rose again.

Aquila and Priscilla: Tentmakers and Refugees

In verse 2 Paul found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. Because Paul was of the same craft, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tentmakers.

Paul entered Corinth a nobody, alone. As was his custom, he sought out a synagogue for a Sabbath-day opportunity to share the gospel. But he also needed employment, because he was not yet supported as missionaries often are today—he funded his own work as a tentmaker. In the marketplace, as Providence would have it, he found a Jewish man with the same trade and connected with Aquila and Priscilla.

Aquila was from Pontus, near the southern coast of the Black Sea, but had lived in Rome. Secular history tells us that in AD 49 Claudius Caesar expelled all the Jews from Rome—there seems to have been an insurrection. One writer suggests a charismatic Jew convinced others to revolt, drawing on the tradition that if the Jews gathered and revolted against Rome, the Messiah would appear. But Rome's tradition was simple: enjoy the Pax Romana if you live at peace and pay your taxes, but revolt and we will crush you. Claudius didn't crush them; he expelled them—perhaps 20,000 Jews. Many came to Corinth, which welcomed them.

So when Paul arrived around AD 51, he found a city full of refugee Jews. God had uniquely gifted Paul to minister to them: he came from a Greek city, held Roman citizenship, and was trained in Jerusalem. These were Hellenistic Jews who had lived throughout the empire, children of Abraham by blood.

Witnessing Through Work

There are many views on whether Aquila and Priscilla already knew the gospel, but I think Paul shared it with them as they worked together. That's an encouragement for us. Most of you work in the private sector among co-workers who aren't Christians. You're not to witness on your company's time, but you are to be witnesses by the way you live—in honesty and integrity. The corporate world is cutthroat, especially when jobs are being lost and people step on one another. We are called to be lights, walking in self-control and the fruit of the Spirit, totally contrary to the world—and that opens great opportunities to share our faith.

Reasoning from the Scriptures

Verse 4 says he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. It was always Paul's custom to find the synagogue first in every city—except Philippi, which had none. After working through the week as a tentmaker, he would go on the Sabbath looking for opportunity, and as a trained traveling rabbi he had an open door.

The word "reasoned" is the Greek dialegomai, from which we get "dialogue." He dialogued from the Scriptures in Thessalonica, Athens, Ephesus, and Troas. Whether with Jews or Gentiles, with the wealthy and powerful or with slaves, Paul could argue, converse, debate, and discuss from the Scriptures who God is and what He does. We ought to be able to do the same.

This is one reason we at Calvary Chapel go through the Scriptures line upon line, precept upon precept—so that we have a working knowledge of the Word and can give a reasonable answer for the hope within us with meekness and fear, as Peter says in 1 Peter 3:15. It's a great grief to me how often I meet believers who simply don't know the Scriptures—who'll say, "The Bible says God helps those who help themselves," and when I ask where, they don't know. They don't know because it doesn't say that. Our desire is that you know what you believe and why, dissecting the Word like a classroom so you truly know it.

What Paul Called the Jews to Trust

Paul was speaking with Jews who put their confidence in who they were—children of Abraham—and in what they had—the temple, the priesthood, the law of God, the ordained way to approach the one true God. When Paul preached, he was calling them to stop trusting in those things and instead put their confidence in this man Jesus of Nazareth, the foretold Messiah, who died on the cross for their sins and rose again three days later. Often, the moment Paul reached the resurrection, many would shut him off, turn against him, or mock—and the majority rejected.

"Pressed in the Spirit" When Silas and Timothy Came

Verse 5 says that when Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. He had left Silas in Berea and Timothy in Thessalonica, about 150 miles north. We don't know how long Paul was alone in Corinth, but there is a drastic change when they arrive. Perhaps it was the report they brought, perhaps just their presence, but Paul was stirred by the Spirit to change his message.

This makes us wonder what Paul was preaching before, if not Jesus the Christ. Very likely his earlier work was preparation—building rapport in the synagogue while God prepared the ground for the seed of the gospel. In the original language it doesn't say he testified that "Jesus was Christ"; it simply says he testified "Jesus Christ." Once Silas and Timothy showed up, His whole focus became preaching Jesus Christ.

Why did Paul wait? I think it was his timidity, the same fear and trembling he mentions. Why so fearful? In Lystra he was dragged outside the city and stoned nearly to death. In Philippi he and Silas were arrested, beaten, and imprisoned. In Thessalonica zealous Jews rose up to kill him, and he left by night—then followed him to Berea. So coming to wicked Corinth, he gave the gospel in measure, taking time to know his audience and find the best way to reach them.

Battle Lines Drawn at the Name of Jesus

Verse 6: when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his clothing and said, "Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. Henceforth I will go to the Gentiles." At the preaching of Jesus Christ, the battle lines were drawn—and that is still true twenty centuries later. You can talk politics, philosophy, even science as Paul did in Athens. But the moment you mention Jesus Christ, the battle lines are drawn. Franklin Graham wrote a book years ago called The Name. Speak about Confucius or Buddha and nobody cares. Mention Jesus Christ and there seems to be a problem.

Some in the synagogue believed, but the majority arranged themselves against Paul, Silas, and Timothy. They wanted a political, reforming Messiah to deliver them from Rome—yet Jesus came to deliver us from the oppression of sin. Their opposition would not stay in words; it would quickly turn to action.

Shake the Dust, Leave the Word

Notice Paul's response. He shook his clothing and declared their blood was on their own heads, just as Jesus instructed in Matthew 10:14: "Whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that city, shake off the dust of your clothing."

This is instructive, because most of us take rejection personally—whether from the pulpit or in our workplace. But when someone rejects the gospel, they are not rejecting you; they are rejecting God. We must recognize and respect that God has given them free will to do so. If they reject it, we don't grab them over the head with our Bibles—though we might want to. We leave the Word of God with them and trust the Holy Spirit to work, especially with family members or grown children who won't listen.

God is able to work apart from our forcing the work. Isaiah 55 says God's Word will not return void; it will accomplish what He sent it to do. If a person rejects it, that doesn't diminish its effectiveness, because God's Word does one of two works: it softens a heart to repentance, or it hardens a person steadfast in the path toward destruction. That's hard to grapple with, but it's what Scripture reveals.

Yet Paul left them with a stern warning: "Your blood be upon your own heads." When someone rejects the gospel, we must leave them understanding what that means—if you reject the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will be rejected by Jesus Christ.

The Door Right Next Door

Paul turned to the Gentiles—always Jews first, then Gentiles, because that was God's command. He entered the house of a man named Justus, a God-fearing Gentile who worshiped God. Justus opened not only his heart but his home. And notice: his house "was joined hard to the synagogue"—it shared a common wall.

When God closes one door, He opens another, and sometimes it's right next door. You can share the gospel with someone who rejects it while the person standing right beside them receives it. This must have driven the synagogue crazy—Paul walks out the door and about twenty paces over keeps preaching.

Verse 8: 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. The leader of the synagogue accepted the gospel and followed Paul's ministry, likely leaving lodging right at the synagogue. As Paul wrote in Romans 10:17, "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Many heard, put their trust in Christ, and responded by being openly baptized.

"Be Not Afraid... I Have Many People in This City"

Verse 9: "Then spoke the Lord to Paul in a night vision saying, Be not afraid, but speak, hold not thy peace; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have many people in this city." And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God.

When God says "do not be afraid," it implies Paul was afraid. Why? Partly because of his success—it's often at the hour of success that fear of coming opposition is born. He was no doubt fearful of hostility, having already been beaten and stoned for his witness, now in a city full of Jews expelled from Rome who wanted to do away with anyone preaching the Messiah. And he may have been overwhelmed by the vastness of the work—Christ's command to make disciples of all nations is daunting when it's hard enough in our own community.

Notice God did not promise to take Paul's fear away. He said, in light of your fear, continue to preach—"for I am with you, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee." That echoes the Great Commission: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." And who were the "many people" in Corinth? Not those who had already believed—there were few. God was speaking of those He had chosen and would now call through the gospel Paul preached. So Paul stayed eighteen months, the longest in his ministry so far.

God's Protection Through Gallio

Remarkably, wicked Corinth was the first city Paul left peaceably, without a beating. How did God arrange it? In verses 12–17, when Gallio was deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat. But before Paul could speak, Gallio told them: if it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, I would bear with you, but if it is a question of words, names, and your law, look into it yourselves—I will not be a judge of such matters. He drove them from the judgment seat. The Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the seat, and Gallio cared for none of those things.

Gallio is often pictured as the man of indifference, and he was indifferent to the affair and to the beating of Sosthenes. But ultimately he was God's instrument of protection for Paul. God said, "No man shall set on thee to hurt thee," and used an earthly ruler to do it. When Gallio declared the Jews had no legal case, the Roman governor of the region put his stamp of approval on Paul's right to stay.

Speak the Truth in This Culture

This speaks something important to us. We are not to be afraid to proclaim the gospel; we are not to hold our peace. The culture around us says, "Church, be quiet—keep it inside your building, don't bring it into the public square." Not so. Our God has told us to proclaim the gospel, and under our constitution we have been given rights to do so. We ought to use those protections.

Don't be afraid to proclaim the gospel. Do not hold your peace. Do not take rejection personally—recognize and respect that God has given man free will to reject it, but still speak boldly the truth in the culture in which we live. Be ready in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but you do the work of an evangelist. Speak the truth.

Closing Prayer

Father, we do thank You for Your word. I pray that You'd help us this week to apply these things—to be those who are willing to boldly declare the truth, even if people reject it, even if people don't like what we have to say. Give us strength by Your Spirit and willingness to step out. For we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.