Acts 18:1–23: “Ministry Crisis in Corinth: God’s Goodness”

Let’s take our Bibles together and turn to Acts 18. Acts 18:1–23 is an interesting passage. It’s not what you would expect at this stage of Paul’s missionary journey. We see a side of Paul here that we haven’t seen in the previous chapters. 

We have a tendency sometimes to view our spiritual heroes as impervious to discouragement or fear. Sometimes we think of them as these tireless, unstoppable forces for the Christian mission. Paul absorbed beatings for Christ and just kept going. Paul absorbed mockery in Athens and just kept trucking on. Is Paul a machine? Is he the Christian Terminator of the first century world? 

And yet, there is evidence from time to time that Paul — even the Apostle Paul! — was human. He had feet of clay. Case in point, Acts 18:9. While Paul was in Corinth, the Lord Jesus appeared to him one night in a vision and said… 

9 … “Do not be afraid, 

Why would the Lord have to tell the Apostle Paul that? Because he was afraid.

9 … “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, 

Why would the Lord have to tell the Apostle Paul to go on speaking? Because he was afraid to keep on speaking. Why would he have to assure Paul that no one will attack him? Because he was afraid that people would attack him. It happened before in other cities. Why would Jesus tell Paul, “I am with you”? Because Paul needed encouragement from the Lord in the midst of fear. 

Some of you know how fond I am of the great Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon. He’s one of my heroes. But what you might not know is that Spurgeon struggled mightily throughout his life with discouragement and depression. He said he sometimes experiences such depression of spirit he “could weep by the hour like a child.” He told his congregation once before he preached, “I am quite out of order addressing you tonight. I feel extremely unwell, excessively heavy, and exceedingly depressed.” Spurgeon had feet of clay. 

Similarly, the Apostle Paul was a remarkable man. And the Apostle Paul was a machine for the gospel… metaphorically speaking. But the Apostle Paul, like all of us, needed the help of his Savior. He needed encouragement in the midst of fear. He needed friends to help him, as we’ll see in a moment. And he needed some R&R to rejuvenate and recharge. 

And here’s the applicational takeaway for us today. If the Apostle Paul needed that so many years ago… if Spurgeon needed it… how much more do we need it in our Christian lives and in the mission that we’ve been called to?

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Our message today is entitled “Ministry Crisis in Corinth.” And I want to give you from the text today three snapshots of God’s intervention on behalf of his faithful servant. These are powerful displays of grace in the midst of Paul’s hardship. 

For your outline, I’m calling this…

The Goodness of God in the Midst of a Ministry Crisis:

And the first demonstration of God’s goodness is God’s provision of ministry partners. 

1) God provides ministry partners (18:1–8)

You see when the Apostle Paul entered into Corinth, he was like a well-strung bow that was about to snap. He had lived his life under an extraordinary amount of tension. And at this time when Paul might have thrown in the towel, or called it a career, or even short-circuited completely, God shows up. God shows up and restores him. God rejuvenates and refreshes and reenergizes his faithful servant. 

Look at Acts 18:1.

1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And [Paul] found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And [Paul] went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

Coincidently this is the only place in the NT where Paul’s occupation as a tentmaker (or leatherworker) is mentioned. And it’s mentioned here in connection to these other “tentmakers by trade,” a married couple, Aquila and Priscilla.

Luke has a habit of unceremoniously introducing new characters like this that will have a bigger role to play later in the book of Acts. And that’s what happens here with Aquila and Priscilla. They become absolutely strategic to Paul’s work among the churches later. They are fabulous ministry partners. 

And praise God for ministry partners! Amen? I’m very thankful for our elders, our pastors, our deacons, and their wives. And also the collective unity that God has given us as a church. I don’t take that for granted. 

Now keep in mind what Paul has gone through in the previous months. When we last saw him, he was in Athens philosophizing with the philosophers. And he was all alone. Silas and Timothy were back in Macedonia strengthening the churches. Paul got kicked out of just about every city in Macedonia before he came to Athens. 

And in Athens, he wasn’t physically abused, but he was verbally abused. People mocked him (17:32). “You really believe that some guy named Jesus was resurrected from the dead. That’s ridiculous!” In fact they called him a “seed-picker.” 

And unlike Philippi and Berea and Thessalonica, Paul was alone this time. Silas and Timothy weren’t with him. You might say, “Well at least he was beaten to a bloody pulp like he was in other cities.” Yeah, but he was verbally assaulted. And he didn’t have anybody to share in that persecution with him. 

Sometimes you can endure just about anything, if you have somebody enduring it with you. One of the worst things that you can do to P.O.W.s, for instance, is isolate them from everyone else in solitary confinement. That’s painful. 

So Paul leaves Athens and ventures into Corinth which is about fifty miles away (see map below).

Paul Travels to Corinth - Click for Map

Either Paul took a boat which would only be one day of travel. Or he went by foot which would have taken approximately three days. And you can see too the distance between Rome and Corinth. Priscilla and Aquila were kicked out of Rome, and they travelled about six hundred miles southeast of there to Corinth—no small ordeal for this married couple.

And let me tell you a little bit about the city of Corinth. If Athens was the Boston of the ancient world, then Corinth was Las Vegas. I mentioned last week how grievous the idol-worship was in Athens. Well Corinth had idol-worship too. But this city was also a cesspool of sexual perversion. The city had a temple of Aphrodite on top of a local mountain peak called the Acro-Corinth that housed over a thousand temple prostitutes. 

Even today you can go to Corinth and see the remnants of their ancient paganism. Here’s a picture with the remains of the Temple of Apollo in the foreground. 

The Temple of Apollo and the Acro-Corinth

In the background, you can see the Acro-Corinth. It’s a mountain peak, 1,900 feet high, that contains the ruins of the ancient temple of Aphrodite. In ancient Corinth, temple prostitutes would climb down that mountain from the temple looking for men to sleep with. 

Aphrodite, if you don’t know, is the Greek goddess of love and fertility. There were actually Greek words that were coined because of Corinth’s reputation for sexual indulgence. The phrase “Corinthian girl” was slang for a prostitute. The verb “Corinthianize” meant euphemistically to fornicate. 

So this city, Corinth, had a reputation. Idolatry was rampant. Prostitution was rampant. Promiscuity was rampant. Homosexuality was rampant (see 1 Cor 6:9–11). Some of these issues come up in Paul’s later letters to the Corinthian church: 1 and 2 Corinthians. Even Christians in the city got caught up in immorality. And Paul was furious about it. 

Also Corinth was a large, wealthy city. Or at least there was a lot of wealthy people who lived there and a lot of money flowing through it. From Paul’s letters there were both wealthy and poor people who made up the church in Corinth. And it’s easy to see why there was so much money flowing through this town. It was strategically located on both the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea. And so, many sailors and tradesmen would pass through this town. And many of these people would squander their resources on drunkenness and prostitution in the city. One ancient writer said of Corinth, “not for every man is the voyage to Corinth.” 

So again, Corinth was essentially the Las Vegas of its day. What happens in Corinth stays in Corinth. But Paul decides, “Well, this is a good place for Jesus to show up… This is a good place to unleash the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.” And, look at verse 4.

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks. 

So Paul, at first, was alone in Corinth. He was in this city known for being a cesspool of sensuality. He’s been run out of Macedonia. He’s been laughed out of Athens. And he’s waiting on his fellow missionary friends, Timothy and Silas, to join him. And while waiting God pairs him up with Aquila and Priscilla to continue preaching the gospel. I find it interesting here that it wasn’t until Paul found Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth… it wasn’t until he found like-minded, God-fearing, co-laborers in trade and co-laborers in the gospel… that Paul resumed his preaching task.

Now God’s not done bringing ministry partners to assist Paul. Watch this. Look at verse 5.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 

So Paul acquires two new ministry partners, Aquila and Priscilla, and then his buddies show up from Macedonia. And when Silas and Timothy show up, Paul stops making tents, and becomes occupied solely with preaching the Word. 

By the way, we know from other Scriptures that Silas and Timothy brought a financial gift from the church in Philippi (Phil 4:14–20; 2 Cor 11:8–9). Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:9, “And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.” Paul also says in Philippians 4:15, “And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only.” 

So probably Lydia and her merry band of new Christians in Philippi must have sent Paul some financial aid while he was in Corinth. And this allowed Paul to stop making tents for a while and devote himself completely to the proclamation of the gospel. [Just as an FYI from this and other NT texts: When Paul needed to be bi-vocational, he would do that. But when he had the option to preach fulltime, he didn’t hesitate.] Silas and Timothy bring him financial resources from a supporting church, and Paul “occupies” himself with preaching the word and testifying that Jesus was the Christ. 

So let’s just pause here and add up the ministry partners that God has provided to Paul. We’ve got Priscilla and Aquila. We’ve got Timothy and Silas. How important are those guys to the Apostle Paul? Especially Timothy! And also, remotely, you’ve got the church in Philippi giving Paul financial support. Is God good or what? 

Listen, nobody has to do ministry alone! God is not asking us to be Lone Rangers for Jesus living in isolation from community. That’s not good for the Apostle Paul. That’s not good for us. 

And the benefit of having this community of friends and helpers is going to become apparent in this next section. Because look at verse 6. 

5 … Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 

Paul loses it with these rebellious Jews who refused to receive the news about their Messiah. Now let me just make an observation. This is the strongest, most condemnatory, statement that Paul has made towards the Jews. And I think it’s borne out of frustration. This statement lacks the tact and the persuasiveness of his speech at Mars Hill.

And even his statement, “From now on I will go to the Gentiles” is emotionally driven. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. It’s a reaction borne out of frustration and aggravation and maybe even exhaustion. And there’s a sense in which this is true, Paul does focus more and more on ministry to Gentiles. But his work among Jews is far from finished. Not even in Corinth, by the way! I’ll show you that in just a moment.

And yet here’s the grace of God that takes place despite Paul’s frustration. Look at verse 7.

7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 

So Paul’s like, “You don’t like my message. You don’t like what I have to say in the synagogue. That’s fine. How about I move this operation next door!” And so, Paul starts meeting at the house of a man named Titius Justus. 

And watch what happens next:

8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue [the leading Jew in the city], believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. 

So Paul basically gives up on the Jews in Corinth, and that’s exactly when the leading Jew and his entire family get saved. Maybe Crispus was scared straight with Paul’s statement, “Your blood be on your own heads!” And he decided, “Hmmm, maybe I should take Paul’s preaching a little more serious?” 

So Crispus gets saved. His entire household gets saved and baptized. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:14 that he baptized Crispus himself. And verse 8 states that after Paul’s frustration had led him to unleash on the Jews in the synagogue that…

many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 

Not just Jews, like Crispus. Not just Gentiles, like Titius Justus. How many Jews and how many Gentiles? Luke doesn’t say. He just says many Corinthians. Many Corinthians get saved, get baptized, and join the church. Revival breaks out in Corinth, while Paul was not at his best. 

I personally find it fascinating that Paul was at his persuasive best in Acts 17 at the Areopagus and only a handful of people got saved. Most people mocked him. In Corinth, he was at his least persuasive, “Your blood be on your own heads!” And that’s where revival breaks out. It’s almost like God is the person who orchestrates salvation, not us! 

Paul would even say later to the Corinthian church, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with lofty speech and wisdom” (1 Cor 2:1).  Like he did in Athens, right? “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Cor 2:2–3). That’s insightful. Paul came to Corinth in weakness and in fear and in much trembling? What was he afraid of? Why was he trembling? 

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Watch this. Because this is surprising. Here’s the situation. Paul had every reason to be encouraged at the end of verse 8. He just acquired some new ministry partners in Priscilla and Aquila. Timothy and Silas arrived from Macedonia with financial support. People are getting saved. Things are going great in Corinth. 

Yet despite all that goodness, Paul falls prey to fear and spiritual discouragement. We know that’s the case, because God appears to him in verse 9 and says “Do not be afraid.” 

Why would Paul be afraid? I don’t know, but maybe because every place he’s been in the last few years he’s either gotten chased out of or laughed out of. Yes, the church is starting to grow. Good things are happening. But we know the pattern in the book of Acts. When people get saved, when fruitfulness starts to emerge, that’s when opposition grows. And that’s when Satan mobilizes. 

So I can imagine that Paul, in his weakened spiritual state — remember “I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling” — Paul starts fretting over the coming opposition. “O no, here we go again. I’m going to get another beatdown. They’re going to run me out of town again.” “It’s coming. It’s coming.” 

And this is what God does in the midst of Paul’s fretfulness. Look at verse 9.

9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, 

This imperative is actually in the present tense, which means that God is commanding Paul to stop doing something he’s already doing. He’s not saying, “When you come across something fearful in the future, do not be afraid.” Instead He’s saying, “Stop being afraid, Paul.” 

The implication is that God had to step into the situation with Paul and stem the tide of his fear and dread. Paul’s thinking to himself, “O no, people are getting saved. Something bad’s about to happen to me.” And the Lord says, “Stop being afraid, Paul.”

Paul’s doing something here that a lot of us do. He’s “borrowing trouble.” Have you heard that term before? “To borrow trouble” means to fret or worry or be anxious about something that hasn’t even happened yet. Paul is “borrowing trouble.” He’s fretting about something that will transpire in the future that hasn’t happened yet. Jesus said each day has enough trouble of its own, no need to worry about tomorrow (Matt 6:34). 

That’s what Paul was doing, and God says, “Stop it! Stop being afraid!” 

“Well, what do you want me to do, Lord?” 

“Well, do this…”

9 … go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, 

Are those words of comfort right there? “I am with you!” “Don’t be afraid, Paul, I’m with you.” John Wesley’s final words before he died were this, “Best of all God is with us.” God’s words to Joshua before he entered the Promised Land were similar, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Josh 1:9).

I am with you [says Jesus to the Apostle Paul], and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 

So here’s what’s going on in this passage. God, in one of the darkest moments of Paul’s life, says, “No one will attack you. I’ll protect you. In fact, ‘I have many in this city who are my people.’” Who are “God’s people” in this city? Well, I think that’s a reference to those who have already gotten saved. But I also believe this is an implicit statement concerning God’s election. God has purposed to save many in the city of Corinth, and soon enough, through the preaching of the Apostle Paul, they’ll join the church too.

Now let me be clear about this. Because this is a dangerous verse taken out of context. God doesn’t say, “I will always protect you from harm.” Are we clear about that? That surely couldn’t be the case, because Paul has suffered much for Christ before he came to Corinth. And Paul will suffer much after he leaves Corinth. Paul is imprisoned several more times before his eventual execution at the hands of Emperor Nero. He dies a martyr’s death in Rome. So God doesn’t say to Paul, or to you for that matter, “I’ll always protect you from harm.” No. But God says, “As long as you are here in Corinth, for this period of time, I’ll protect you. I’ll keep you from harm.” God essentially promises Paul a temporary reprieve from all the suffering he’s endured over the last few years. 

And verse 11 says that Paul made the most of this reprieve.

11 And he stayed a year and six months [in Corinth], teaching the word of God among them. 

Paul preaches the Word. He grows the church in Corinth. He stays a year and a half. That’s an eternity for Paul! That’s like putting down roots for Paul. He stays and enjoys this season of respite, and God protects him. And it was during this time that Paul wrote the letters of 1 and 2 Thessalonians to the church in Thessalonica.

Now watch this. Because God’s promise is about to be tested.   

12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 

Here we go again. We’ve seen this before. Paul is going to get stoned and left for dead. Paul’s going to get beaten and brutalized. Paul’s going to get imprisoned or banished from the city! Something bad is about to happen. You can just sense it. “What about your promise, Lord? You said you would protect Paul in Corinth.” 

the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 

So this is a pretty tense moment here. The Jews take Paul to what’s called the “bema” seat. That’s the place of judgment in the city. And their accusation before the proconsul Gallio is ambiguous at best. They say “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” Contrary to what law? Roman law or Jewish law? It’s ambiguous. I get the sense that they don’t really care which way Gallio takes it. They just want Paul out of the city. 

Now as far as the Jews were concerned, they did have the right under Roman law to practice their religion. And Christianity would have been viewed by the Romans as a sect of Judaism. In fact, we read earlier about how Priscilla and Aquila got thrown out of Rome when the Emperor Claudius banished all the Jews. That more than likely resulted because Christians and Jews were at odds with each other in Rome. Claudius got tired of the conflict and banished all the Jews, including Jewish Christians, from the city. 

But here in Corinth, what the Jews are arguing is that Paul is advocating a worship that isn’t sanctioned under Jewish law. And therefore it isn’t allowable under Roman law either. Either way, this guy needs to be stopped. 

In the past, it took even less of an accusation than this to get Paul and his missionary friends prosecuted or kicked out of the city. But watch what happens. Watch how God’s promise is fulfilled!

14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 

How about that fulfillment to God’s promise? Did God come through or what? Gallio basically says, “I’m not going to be a judge over your religious disagreements. Get out of my courtroom!” Paul didn’t even have to say a word. Paul didn’t even open his mouth. Remember God’s words, “Do not be afraid,” Paul, “but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you” (18:9–10).

17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Write this down as a second point from the message. We’re looking today at the goodness of God in the midst of a ministry crisis. We’ve seen already that God provides ministry partners to Paul in Corinth. Now we see that…

2) God fulfills his promises (18:9–17)

Now this is really important. Hear me on this. We need to be careful that we don’t take a unique set of circumstances and an isolated promise that God makes to Paul, and make that a universal promise that God makes to all of us. We can’t take God’s promise to Paul in Acts 18, “no one will attack you to harm you” and extrapolate that out as a universal principle for us. That would violate the context of this passage. That would take something descriptive here and make it prescriptive for us. 

But here is a universal principle we can derive from this passage. Are you ready for it? God always fulfills his promises! Amen? 

And let me give you a few promises from Scripture that you can count on. Go ahead and write these down in your notes. These are under the heading “Six Promises of God to Believers.”

1. He will never leave us or forsake us (Deut 31:6; Isa 41:10; Matt 28:20; Heb 13:5–6).

God’s promises to his people were patterned in the OT. God told the Israelites, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deut 31:6). The prophet Isaiah said, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you (Isa 41:10). 

Jesus said in this NT era, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt 28:20). Also, Hebrews 13:5–6: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” Indeed! What can man do to me? 

To that you might say, “Well Tony, man can do some awful things to other men.” True enough. But they can’t touch your soul. And men can’t do anything outside of God’s sovereignty. And men can’t force God to leave you or forsake you.

2. He will bind up every wound (Ps 147:1–3; 2 Cor 4:17–18) 

Psalm 147 says about God and his children that “he heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (147:3). If not in this life, then in the life to come. 2 Cor 4:17–18 says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” It’s a great comfort to me to know that our suffering is never wasted. God uses our suffering to refine us in this life and reward us in the life to come. He binds up every wound. 

3. He won’t let us be tempted beyond what we can handle (1 Cor 10:13; Phil 4:19)

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

4. He works all things for the good of his elect (Rom 8:28)

Romans 8:28 has brought a lot of comfort to Christians over the years. And rightfully so. Because God’s Word says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

5. He is coming back to take us to our eternal home (John 14:1–3)

John 14 says, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (14:1–3).

6. He will judge all evil and establish perfect justice (Ps 96:13; Acts 17:31)

Psalm 96:13 says, “He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.” Acts 17:31 says, “he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” God will right every wrong. He will punish every evildoer. He will reconcile every account. 

That last statement is a promise. But it’s also a warning. Every sin in this world has to be punished. Nobody gets away with evil. Either your sin is punished at the cross of Christ, or it is punished for eternity in hell. 

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Let’s go back to our passage and finish up here. Verse 17 says,

17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this. 

So instead of Paul getting a beatdown, they give the ruler of the synagogue a beatdown. And Gallio, either because he’s annoyed by this intrusion of his privacy or because he’s really an antisemite at heart, does nothing to stop it. This whole episode shows how very capricious the Roman government was. They prided themselves on law and order, but we’ve already seen a fair amount of vigilantism and hooliganism in the empire. He’s another instance of that. 

Now let me say two things about verse 17. First of all, Gallio has set a precedent now for Christianity that it should be tolerated throughout the Empire. At least for a season, there is a reprieve from the persecution of Christians in Corinth and other major Roman cities. That’s good for the gospel. Persecution will return soon. But for now the church gets a reprieve. 

Secondly, notice that Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue was beaten. He must have been the ringleader for this whole episode with Paul. Well, interestingly Paul writes in 1 Corinthians about our brother, Sosthenes (1 Cor 1:1). If this is the same Sosthenes of Acts 18, then this synagogue ruler, who was trying to bring about the demise of Paul, actually gets saved later and joins the church. How awesome is that? And as much as we might grieve the mob violence in verse 17 where Sosthenes gets publicly beaten, God may have used that to bring him to Christ. 

If that’s the case, then the last two synagogue rulers in Corinth, both Crispus and Sosthenes, have gotten saved and have joined the church. 

Look at verse 18.

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 

Here’s Paul’s journey after Corinth. He travels two-hundred and fifty miles straight west, across the Aegean Sea to Ephesus.

Paul goes to Ephesus

Ephesus was an even larger and more important city than Corinth in the Roman Empire. It’s possible that Paul tried to go here earlier when the Spirit prevented him and sent him to Macedonia. Now Paul is in Ephesus. But as we’ll see, he doesn’t stay long. And he leaves Priscilla and Aquila there to plant a church. We know this, because later Paul writes 1 Corinthians from Ephesus and he tells the church in Corinth that Priscilla and Aquila, “together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord” (1 Cor 16:19).

Look at verse 20.

20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church [this is the church in Jerusalem], and then went down to Antioch. 

So again, here’s Paul’s journey after Ephesus. And by the way, God does bring Paul back to Ephesus, and his experiences there are wild. More on that in the weeks to come in Acts 19.

Paul goes back to Antioch

Paul goes from Ephesus to Caesarea to Jerusalem and then to Antioch, which for all practical matters is his home church. That’s the place where he was first commissioned with Barnabas. After he finished his first missionary journey, he goes back to Antioch. After finishing his second missionary journey, he goes back to Antioch. “There’s no place like home.”

And look at verse 23.

23 After spending some time there, 

After getting rejuvenated, right? After some much deserved R&R. After spending “some time there,” Paul gets back to work on now his third missionary journey.

23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Here’s the thing. Here’s the final point that I want to give you from the text. Luke condenses Paul’s 1,500-mile journey from Corinth to Ephesus to Jerusalem to Antioch to about five verses. And that doesn’t even include Paul’s subsequent journey to Galatia and Phrygia. Those are the places where Paul and Barnabas planted churches a few years before this. I’m sure there were plenty of things that Luke could have commented on. But the primary thing that he communicates is this. Paul goes back to Antioch. He gets rejuvenated there. And then he gets back to work travelling again. 

God graciously provides an opportunity for Paul to refuel and reenergize with his home church in Antioch. And it wasn’t long until Paul was back to work again. 

Here’s the final point from the message:

3) God rejuvenates his servant for the work (18:18–23) 

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The Goodness of God in the Midst of a Ministry Crisis:

1) God provides ministry partners (18:1–8)

2) God fulfills his promises (18:9–17)

3) God rejuvenates his servant for the work (18:18–23) 

I’ll close with this. According to NT scholar Eckhard Schnabel, Paul’s second missionary journey would have involved an immense amount of travel, a total of 1,930 miles by foot and 1,280 miles by ship, during the period AD 49–51. This would have involved a total of 175 days of travel: 155 days of marching by foot and 20 days at sea. Why? Why? Why? Why would anyone subject themselves to this kind of grueling pace, brutal schedule, and the accompanying persecution that Paul experienced in those places? 

Why? Because Paul was driven to preach the gospel to those who hadn’t heard it. He was absolutely obsessed with Christ’s mission to take the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the end of the earth.

My prayer in light of this Scripture is “Lord, give me just a taste of that passion. If Paul can do that in the ancient world, then I can commit to making disciples here in San Antonio, Texas.” My prayer is, “God give us, Messiah Bible Church, just a taste of that passion, that drivenness, that kind of commitment to our Lord Jesus.”