Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles
11 - Paul in Corinth
We have been following Doctor Luke’s account of the life and missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul in the Book of Acts. This time we come to Acts chapter 18.
Paul has left the Greek city of Athens, a great intellectual centre, and travelled to Corinth a city sunk deep in moral decay and sin. Even the name ‘Corinthian’ can describe someone who is given over to a profligate and sensual life. The moral state of the people of Corinth is described by Paul in the letter that he would later write to the church that was established in that city. We read his description in 1 Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 to 11:
“Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
It was constantly Paul’s understanding of the power of the Christian gospel and his continuing commitment to preach it to all men that made him believe with all his heart that it could bring salvation to all be they philosophers or prostitutes. This same gospel is still liberating men and woman today from their enslavement to immorality and dishonesty of all kinds and bringing them, forgiven, into the kingdom of God.
On coming to Corinth Paul met a fellow Jew named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. This godly couple had been exiled from Rome and had set-up temporary home in Corinth working as tentmakers. As Paul’s trade was also that of a tentmaker he stayed and worked with them which enabled him to earn a living. These delightful fellow-believers opened their home to Paul and he worked with them each day, but on the Sabbath he went to the synagogue and debated with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles as he had in the other places he had visited. We are told in Acts chapter 18 verses 5 and 6 that when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia Paul devoted all of his time to preaching to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.
This preaching was designed to persuade both the Jews and the Greeks present to respond in faith and believe his message. However, Luke tells us that Paul’s preaching stirred up strong opposition as it did everywhere that he preached. Paul knew that his responsibility was to take the message of the Gospel of Christ to the Jews first, but that his primary calling was to the Gentiles. In going first to the synagogues he had discharged that duty. If the Jews steadfastly rejected the message that Jesus was their Messiah then he would go to the Gentiles and present the message of salvation to them. This is what Paul did in Corinth.
Thankfully, Paul’s mission to that corrupt city brought about very pleasing results. Verses 7 and 8 tell us that even Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord. And not only Crispus, but many of the Corinthians who heard him also believed and were baptised and so a church was formed in that city by the work of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, all to the glory of God.
We have discovered as we have followed the Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys that he faced opposition and danger as he faithfully proclaimed the message of salvation through the crucified and risen Christ. He had faced further opposition in Corinth, but the Lord gave him a wonderful word of encouragement which is recorded for us by Luke in verses 9 and 10:
“One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’
After all the opposition he had faced, Paul’s heart must have been lifted as the Lord told him “I have many people in this city.” The Lord knew that there were others who, on hearing the gospel, would respond in faith and be saved and he needed Paul to continue with his faithful witness. Here is a great word of encouragement to all who witness for the Lord to keep on speaking even when there is opposition because the Lord knows in advance those who will turn in repentance and believe.
Then verse 11 tells us: “So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”
Paul also understood the importance of grounding the new believers in the Scriptures and so he took over a year to teach and encourage them in their new found faith in Christ.
Paul, Luke tells us, finally took his leave of Corinth and sailed for Syria accompanied by Aquila and Priscilla, his intention being to return to Antioch from where he had set out on his second missionary journey. The ship called at Ephesus and Paul’s friends disembarked with the intention of staying in that city. Paul took advantage of the ship’s brief call and went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. Surprisingly, the Jews there wanted him to stay longer, but he could not do so and he returned to the ship promising to come back again to Ephesus, if it were God’s will.
The ship’s next stop was Caesarea, and Paul took the opportunity to greet the church in Jerusalem. From there he went down to Antioch from where he had been originally commended to the Lord’s work. So he completed his second missionary journey.
As we come to the close of today’s talk allow me to summarise Paul’s great work thus far as an Apostle to the Gentiles:
We note first: His first missionary journey, recorded for us in Acts chapters 13 and 14, indicates his determination to bring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to both Jews and Gentiles.
Second: In Luke’s account of Paul’s second journey, recorded in Acts chapters 16 to 18, we are shown the various types of problems that arose in the ungodly Gentile world when the gospel was preached.
Paul himself sums this up in his first letter to the believers in Corinth where he writes concerning the gospel in chapter 1 verse 18 and verses 22 to 24:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God … For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”