Acts 18

We hear of the apostle Paul going from one place to another throughout these chapters, and we have to conclude that the Lord gave him the strength necessary to keep on going in this amazing mission. We are reminded again back to those first moments in his life as a new man in Christ when a word was given to the one who would baptize him concerning this Saul, “I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of My Name.” All of that was happening now. Wherever he went, he entered the synagogues and brought a bold message that would be received by some, and hated by others.

Along the way he was granted many fellow-laborers in the cause of Christ, people like Aquila and his wife Priscilla, with whom he lived and worked. We see from passages like Romans 16 in his various letters that these warm friendships of common Christian endeavor were a great blessing to him. Nonetheless, the strain of the work that he was called to perform must have been very difficult. In Corinth, as in other places, the message of Christ tore apart the synagogues. This was inescapable. There could be no possible compromise between a Judaism that recognized Jesus as the Christ and a Judaism that rejected Him. In every place there were Jews and God-fearing Greeks that believed in Jesus, and there were others who vehemently and even violently opposed the message of the gospel.

Paul’s word to his opponents in Corinth who opposed and reviled him is worth considering. He said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent.” This is reminiscent of similar passages from the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. The one who is the Lord’s messenger had a responsibility to clearly deliver the Word of God to the people. If he would not do this, then their blood was said to be on his head. If he faithfully presented the Lord’s Word, but was hated and rejected, then their blood was on their own heads. Our response to the message of the Lord is still a matter of life and death, and this is why the apostles and prophets spoke of it as a question of blood. When Jesus was proclaimed in the synagogues as the Christ, some received the word, believed, and were baptized; others rejected the message, and even became strong opponents of the Word. While he was in Corinth, Paul had a vision in which the Lord Himself assured the apostle, “I have many in this city who are my people.” The instruction from above was clear, “Do not be afraid. Speak. Do not be silent.” Paul kept on teaching there for many months, bringing the message of Jesus not only to Jews, but also to Gentiles. The message of God to Paul was clear. “I am with you. No one will attack you to harm you.”

This did not mean that all danger was completely gone. There was still much opposition against the church, and there were efforts to stop Paul through legal channels, though these were unsuccessful. Though some within the church would face even physical attacks, there continued to be progress in the faith, not only in Corinth, but in many other places. Paul, now accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, visited Ephesus, where Priscilla and Aquila helped a gifted teacher named Apollos to be even more fruitful in His work for the Lord. Paul moved on throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, “strengthening all the disciples,” and Apollos would be sent on to Achaia, where he was used in great ways in the churches there, and was able to refute the attacks of those Jews who continued to oppose the Christian message.

We are treated here to glimpses of a powerful work of God in evangelizing a sizeable region. We have been able to follow this story of suffering and triumph through the synagogues and marketplaces of the Northern Mediterranean. We are seeing the promise that God made to Abraham now coming to fruition in the preaching and teaching of a man who was once an enemy of any other message beyond Pharisaic Judaism. Jesus had assured His disciples that the fields were white unto harvest, and now the harvest was being gathered in lands that were once considered to be so far from the covenant promises of God.

We have been witnesses through this account, not only of bold preaching in synagogue after synagogue, but also of the opening up of hearts among Jews and God-fearing Greeks in these synagogues, and then the favorable response even of Gentiles who were so far off from the message of the God of Israel. Not only have the followers of this way increased greatly, but new ministers of the word have been raised up, and they were being sent off to help churches throughout this region. This work was not being coordinated by the church in Jerusalem, or even by the apostles. It was beyond them. There were centers of great Christian activity in Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus. Each of these places had many individual gatherings of worship, and there were elders in these places who gathered together and were making their own conclusions concerning who would preach and teach, and how the work should move forward in their areas and beyond. A man like Apollos came from Northern Africa, strong in Christ and in the Word, and two companions of Paul were able to instruct Him in matters concerning the Holy Spirit, so that he became an even more effective servant of God, and was now being sent forth to Achaia to be a blessing to the church there. We have the sense that what was recorded here was just a small part of the work of Christ through the apostolic church. This was the kingdom of God moving ahead in joy and suffering, and no earthly power could stop it.

In all of these places that we have heard of, and in many other cities and towns, a Word was going forth with power from the Scriptures. The Christ that Moses, David, and the prophets wrote of had come. He was everything that God said He would be, and He died for us and then rose again, bringing forth a whole new resurrection age. Hearts and souls were already being made alive through the proclamation and demonstration of this truth: The long-expected Christ of the Jewish Scriptures is here, and His Name is Jesus.