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MESSAGE SERIES: “CHURCH ON THE MOVE”
Acts 18:1–17

INTRODUCTION: We are studying Paul’s second missionary journey as found in the book of Acts, and today we come to the city of Corinth. Corinth was a major Greek city at the time, and the church at Corinth was the recipient of two letters from Paul included in the New Testament. Of course, there was no church in Corinth when Paul first arrived, but all that was about to change. (Read Acts 18:9–10 and pray.)

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We last left Paul in Athens, but now Paul leaves Athens and moves on to the city of Corinth. Athens may have been the cultural capital of the area, but Corinth was the leading city in Greece. The population consisted of 250,000 free persons, plus another 400,000 slaves. It was a crossroads for travelers and merchants alike. It even had two harbors.

Like Athens, it was a religious city. It had at least twelve temples, the two most famous being those of Apollo, the son of Zeus, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Over 1,000 temple prostitutes served at the temple of Aphrodite. The city of Corinth was famous for its sexual immorality, both in and out of the temple. It was a city of sin, similar to the way we view Las Vegas in the United States today. And so, Corinth was a religious but very godless city.

In today’s passage we see Paul ministering first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles before appearing before the proconsul or governor of that region. As with each of the stops in Paul’s missionary journeys, we can learn many valuable lessons from Paul’s ministry in Corinth.

I. Ministering to the Jews (1–6)

The passage begins with Paul arriving in Corinth where we first see him ministering to the Jews.

   A. Making tents (1–4)

And although we are used to Paul preaching the gospel on these mission trips, all of a sudden we find him doing something else as well — making tents for a living. Look at verses 1–4 with me now:

After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18:1–4)

The journey from Athens to Corinth was about fifty miles. It is here in Corinth that Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila and Priscilla were Jews who had been displaced under the emperor Claudius. They were apparently already believers. As we mentioned in an earlier message, there were Jews from Rome in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost who would have heard the gospel and brought it back to Rome with them. Claudius in his edict evicting the Jews mentions trouble caused by a man named Chrestus, which many scholars believe was a reference to Christ. Plus, we have no account of their conversion by Paul.

We saw earlier the importance of team ministry and how discouraging it was for Paul when he was all by himself in Athens. So it must have been very encouraging for him to find these believers in Corinth and stay with them. They were tentmakers by trade, and now we learn that Paul was a tentmaker too. This is the only place in Scripture where this particular detail is mentioned.

And so, Paul worked during the week and witnessed on the Sabbath, sharing the gospel with both Jews and Greeks. Even today some pastors are paid to serve, while others support themselves. For example, before his retirement, Pastor Dan served our church faithfully as a pastor on staff without ever receiving a paycheck. He supported himself through his own business while serving first as our Pastor of Community Outreach and then as our Pastor to Senior Adults. In the Christian world, we call this tentmaking, after what Paul did here in Corinth.

Luke also tells us that Paul “reasoned” in the synagogue on the Sabbath days. It’s a word that means to discuss, present, converse, or debate. In other words, Paul didn’t just tell people to believe what he said without also giving them reasons to believe. It’s a good reminder that faith in Christ is not blind faith, but rather a reasonable choice when you look at the Scriptures and what they say. In many ways, only our sin blinds us to the reasonableness of this choice.

   B. Support and opposition (5–6)

When Silas and Timothy finally arrived from Macedonia, Paul was able to spend more time preaching, and that’s when he ran into some major opposition. Look at verses 5–6 next:

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (Acts 18:5–6)

We know from the letter of 1 Thessalonians that Silas and Timothy eventually joined Paul in Athens, but then Paul sent them back to the churches in Macedonia. Timothy most likely went to Thessalonica and Silas to Philippi (1 Thess. 3:1–5). Now when they finally arrive at Corinth, Paul devotes himself exclusively to preaching.

We know from elsewhere in Scripture that when Silas and Timothy arrived, they brought financial support with them from the churches in Macedonia (2 Cor. 11:7–9). This enabled Paul to give himself full-time to ministry, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah. As we mentioned previously, some people are paid for full-time Christian service, some are tentmakers, and some do both at different seasons. Paul was equally comfortable with either role.

In my first ministry experience I got to do both. I was working at a recording studio in Los Angeles at the time. It was what I had studied and trained for and why I moved all the way across country from Boston to L.A. I was attending a small church of about fifty people. I had been working at the studio and attending the church for about two years when they lost their youth pastor. God worked in that situation in some amazing ways, and I ended up leaving the studio and serving the church as their new youth pastor.

That worked great for about a year or so until the church ran out of money and couldn’t pay me anymore. I didn’t stop being youth pastor, but I did have to go back to work. Fortunately, the studio had an opening, so I went back to work at the studio while continuing my ministry responsibilities.

So I spent my first year of ministry as a paid youth pastor and my second year as a tentmaker. And they were both great years of ministry. They were just different from each other. It was through that whole experience I ended up going to seminary and studying to be a pastor full time.

It was during Paul’s transition from tentmaking to full-time preaching that he encountered further opposition from the Jews — in fact, not just opposition, but abuse. As a result, Paul publicly left his ministry at the synagogue. He shook out his clothes in protest. He told them they were responsible for what they had heard. He told them he had fulfilled his own responsibility by bringing the gospel to them, but now he would move on to the Gentiles.

The Bible elsewhere talks about not casting your pearls before swine (Matt. 7:6), shaking the dust off your feet when the gospel is rejected (Matt. 10:14), and fulfilling your responsibility as a watchman to share the gospel and warn others of the coming judgment (Ezek. 33:1–9). Paul had fulfilled his responsibility, and he tells them their blood is on their own heads now.

II. Ministering to the Gentiles (7–11)

And so we move from Paul ministering to the Jews to Paul ministering to the Gentiles.

   A. Titius and Crispus (7–8)

Here we meet Titius and Crispus — a Gentile and a Jew who both put their faith in Christ. Look at verses 7–8 next:

Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. (Acts 18:7–8)

Titius was a Gentile who worshiped God at the synagogue. Paul will now use Titius’ house as a home base for the gospel. Crispus was the synagogue ruler. Apparently, Paul leaving the Jews to go to the Gentiles had an impact on him, and he and his entire household believed. We later learn that Paul baptized Crispus (1 Cor. 1:14).

Notice Crispus is the synagogue ruler in verse 8, but by the time we get to verse 17, there’s a new synagogue ruler. There’s a cost to following Jesus, and apparently Crispus lost his position at the synagogue when he publicly put his faith in Christ.

This new phase of ministry to the Gentiles was successful, and Luke tells us many other Corinthians who heard Paul’s message also believed and were baptized.

   B. Many people (9–11)

In the midst of all this, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and encouraged him to keep speaking and sharing the gospel. Look at verses 9–11 next:

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.” So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. (Acts 18:9–11)

The Lord told Paul to stay in the city and keep sharing the gospel, and he promised to be with him and protect him. The standout verse here is when the Lord tells Paul, “I have many people in this city.” In other words, there were many people in the city who were yet to come to Christ.

This is one of my life ministry verses. I have it printed up right on my prayer list where I pray for our community and our city each week. God has many people right here in our city who have yet to come to Christ. Will you be the one whom God uses to help reach them?

Paul stayed in Corinth to teach the word for a year and a half. A pastor has many responsibilities, but the most important is to preach and teach the word of God.

III. Paul before the proconsul (12–17)

Finally, we come to Paul appearing before the proconsul.

   A. Charges made (12–13)

At some point while Paul was in Corinth, the Jews brought him before the proconsul and pressed charges. The proconsul is just another name for the governor of a region, so this is a high ranking official. Look at verses 12–13 next:

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” (Acts 18:12–13)

God had just promised Paul his protection, and now we see a specific example of this in action. Gallio was proconsul of Achaia in the years 51–52. This helps us in dating Paul’s visit to Corinth along with other aspects of his journey. Gallio was the older brother of Seneca, the famous Stoic writer and philosopher whom people still read and study today.

This was truly a united attack on the part of the Jews. This was not just one or two people pressing charges. Rather, they met together, planned together, formed their strategy, and then brought Paul to court.

Their charge was that Paul was teaching unlawful worship. It was a matter of semantics. Rome had authorized Judaism as a religion but not necessarily Christianity. Of course, Paul would likely say that Christianity is simply Judaism recognizing that the Messiah has come and offering salvation through Christ to Jews and Gentiles alike.

   B. Case dismissed (14–17)

We never actually get to hear what Paul would have said, because just as he is about to speak, Gallio speaks first and dismisses the case.

Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” So he had them ejected from the court. Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever. (Acts 18:14–17)

Just as Paul was about to speak up in defense, Gallio interrupts the proceedings and basically tells the Jews that their case has no standing. No serious crime has been committed; rather, the case revolves around words, names, and the Jewish law. Gallio refuses to get involved and tells them to settle the matter themselves.

So they settle the matter themselves — by beating up the new synagogue ruler instead. Poor Sosthenes. Maybe this was all his idea, maybe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I am sure he was wishing someone else was synagogue ruler at the time. They all turn on Sosthenes and beat him right there in front of the court, but Gallio just ignores them.

CONCLUSION: In closing, let me share with you three applications from our message this morning.

1) Tentmaking and paid ministry are both valid options

First of all, tentmaking and paid ministry are both valid options. It’s important to understand this because sometimes people set them against each other. Sometimes people criticize pastors who are paid, while other times people look down on tentmaking pastors as not real pastors or somehow less than paid pastors. Both of these viewpoints are wrong, because Scripture makes room for both types of ministry.

We see this even in Paul’s life. Sometimes he relied on the support of others while he ministered. Other times he supported himself. In Corinth Paul did both at different times. Paul would later write to the Corinthians that “those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14), thus affirming the principle of supported or paid ministry. Paul taught that ministry had a right to financial support; he just didn’t always take advantage of that right.

So that’s our first application: tentmaking and paid ministry are both valid options, and neither one should be either criticized or looked down upon.

2) Christianity is a reasonable faith

Secondly, Christianity is a reasonable faith. We’ve seen this phrase with Paul several times in the book of Acts. We read in Acts 17:2: “Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.” We read in Acts 17:17: “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace.” Again from today’s passage in Acts 18:4: “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” We will see Paul reasoning in the synagogue again when he gets to Ephesus (18:19), and toward the end of the book of Acts, Paul will defend himself before King Agrippa and the governor Festus by telling them, “What I am saying is true and reasonable” (Acts 26:25).

Christianity is a reasonable faith. We have the evidence of creation, moral persuasion, biblical history, fulfilled prophecy, and early eyewitness testimony to Christ’s teachings, miracles, and resurrection. People do not reject Christianity because it is unreasonable. More often than not, they reject Christianity for moral reasons. The reason we do not want to follow Jesus is not because it is unreasonable. The reason we do not want to follow Jesus is because we do not want to submit ourselves to the word of God and to Jesus as Lord.

3) Keep talking!

And then the third application is simply: Keep talking! That’s what God told Paul in the vision: “Keep talking, because I have many people in this city.” God has many people in this city, too. He has many people in your city, your workplace, and your neighborhood who are ready to come to Christ. How do you find them? Keep talking!

We learn so many valuable lessons from Paul’s ministry here in Corinth. We’ve been reminded of the importance of team ministry. We’ve learned that tentmaking and paid support are both valid models of ministry. We’ve learned that the Christian faith is a reasonable faith based on scriptural and historical evidence.

We’ve also learned that we have a responsibility to share the gospel with others, and our conscience can only be clear when we fulfill that responsibility. We’ve been encouraged to keep sharing the gospel — knowing that God is with us, God will protect us, and God has many people in our city yet to come to Christ. We were given a memorable example of how God protects us with the incident of Paul before the proconsul and how God can turn the schemes of the enemy against them.

Ministry can be challenging. Sharing the gospel requires boldness and intention. But God has many people yet to come to Christ. We need to take these lessons to heart so we can persevere in sharing Christ so that others may be saved. God has many people in your city and your circle of friends. How will you reach them for Christ?

© Ray Fowler

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