In our current verse-by-verse expository journey through Acts, our our focus since Chapter 13 has been on the ministry of Paul and his missionary "SWAT" ("Spiritual Weapons and Tactics) team. Now nearing the final phase of his second missionary journey, Paul is still on "a mission from God" (our last study) and has maintained his "Code 3" (lights and siren) sense of urgency to WIN the lost to Christ, DISCIPLE the believer and SEND them back out to "repeat" (same pattern God has for us today.  

Now remember where Paul has come from: As Saul, he was "hell-bent" on the destruction of all Christians, but now transformed by Christ, he is working FOR the Lord versus AGAINST Him.  In fact, he speaks of this in his first letter to his disciple Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:12-13 -- " And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief."

Now in Acts 18, Paul arrives in Corinth from Athens. Let's dig in!

 

(1-4) Paul is sent to Corinth:  Coming from Athens m ust have been an interesting time for Paul since his powerful message didn't yield much fruit there (at least in terms of outward numbers/man's eyes). Praise God, He always sees more than we do!  On this, Isaiah 55:11 is a good "Word" from the Lord for us:  " So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." In other words, we are NOT responsible to the response of sharing our faith but rather God is looking for faithfulness and obedience to His command for us to carry our our Great Commission mandate.  Later writing to the church he planted in Corinth, Paul says:

 

I planted, Apollos (we'll meet him in a moment)  watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. ( 1 Cor. 3:6-7 -- added emphasis)

 

Corinth in that day?  Corinth is a large, strategic city with 200,000 lost souls caught up in idolatry, immorality and general wickedness (aka - sin)!  While Athens was the intellectual capital of the the ancient world, Corinth was the "capital of smut" -- a place well known for sexual sin and drunkenness.  Whenever they would portray a man of Corinth in the dramas, he would always be the intoxicated one. It was also said concerning anyone who lived a very debased kind of life, that he was "a Corinthian." In many ways, Corinth was much like how "rip roaring" towns of the old West are portrayed in Westerns today: a place filled, with mayhem, murder, booze and prostitutes.  Prostitutes (and sexual sin in general) in Corinth?  Front and center! Towering 1500 feet above the city was the temple of Aphrodite and the 1000 "priestesses" (to wit, prostitutes) "employed" there. 

In our law enforcement world, we don't go to calls in a rowdy, drunken bar or strip club like Corinth without backup, and God sent just that to Paul in the form of the husband and wife team of Aquila (his name means "eagle") and Pricilla ("venerated woman") -- two fellow Bible teachers and tent-makers.  

Note for a moment the subject of tent-making (or, to be more specific, leather-workers -- tents in that day were made primarily of leather). Here God makes a point of telling us that even if we're called to the ministry, it is important that we work to take care of our families and not be a burden to the church. Like my bride Diana and I today, Aquila and Pricilla worked their craft by day and preached/did ministry in support of Paul and the new Corinthian church on nights and weekends! 

 

(5-6) As we see today (as in our current new church plant, Truth Church Calvary, and with our missionary outreach to own in law enforcement), the enemy is most active when the ministry is bearing fruit (being effective).  Notice that Paul is "compelled by the Spirit" to preach the Gospel in what is essentially a "target rich environment" -- thus the fierce opposition.  What is the law enforcement comparison? As I have seen many times in my own career, the enemy (politicians, criminals and sheep being led around by the anti-police media) is most "outraged" when we are making arrests, impacting crime and otherwise being effective. Thus the importance of keeping our spiritual armor on, our backup near and our heads on a proverbial swivel. Paul would go on to write about this in his second letter to the Corinthian church and to the church at Ephesus as well: "... lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." (2 Cor. 2:11); " Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11).

 

The application for us here? No matter the cost, we should be "constrained" (Code 3 sense of urgency)  as believers to share the message of love and hope in Jesus with others!  Teaching on this same passage, Pastor Ed Taylor of Calvary Aurora said, "G od has given us this city, this area, this state, this country, this world to reach. Their ours for the taking!" AMEN!

 

(7-11) Personal Comfort: Many are coming to faith in Christ as a result of the ministry that was done there by Paul and his "Gospel SWAT team." Yet we see that Paul is troubled by the fierce opposition. Praise God, we find here four points of encouragement of  Paul, and ergo, for us:  

 

#1 (verse 9) God's Purpose:  God encourages Paul (and us) to not be in fear and to stay the course. He will fulfill His purposes for us if we stay front sight focused on Him.

#2 (verse 10) God's Presence: I am with you!  The Bible has over 3000 promises for you and me.  All that is left is for us to believe them.  Hebrews 11:13 adds (for example), "T hese all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth."

 

#3 (verse 10) God's Protection: No one will attack you to hurt you. Now understand, Paul and all of Christ's original SWAT team were harmed, attacked and (all but John), KILLED for their faith. Yet here in Corinth for this season, God assured Paul that he would not be harmed. The application for us?   At times God will be with in delivering  us FROM trials, while at others He will be with us IN our trials. Regardless, we must stay the course and not lose heart.

 

#4 - (verse 10) God's People: You are not alone, there are many here! He had backup and in that encouragement and safety he preached the word and did ministry in Corinth for the next 18 months.

 

(12-17) A wise government official (what a rarity that is): The Jews who are upset with Paul continued their attacks by trying to influence the government.  Are we not seeing that today (my resent post about Bernie Sanders attacking Christians, for example)?  Praise God, Gallio refused to intervene. Had he done so, it could have been a serious blow to the mission (a "tactical op," if you will).  Yet here we see the pattern of the enemy using the government to impact Christians, and we see in verse 17 that Sosthenes did pay the price for this anti-Christian anger (see 1 Corinthians 1:1 where Paul calls him "our brother").

(18-22) Paul heads for Jerusalem and Antioch.  With his mission done for now in Corinth, Paul head to Jerusalem with his backup and seems to have taken up a temporary Nazarite vow (see Numbers 6:2-5 for context) as he does so. Why? Perhaps he was setting a pattern for us dudes (shaved heads -- LOL).  Seriously, while we are free from such things in Christ, Paul still retained a genuine love for both the Word (OT) and his Jewish heritage. Praise God, we have great liberty and grace "in Christ."  On this, Paul later wrote to the Corinthian church: " All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." (1 Cor. 6:12) and " All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other's well-being. "(1 Cor. 10:23-24)

Understand here that our liberty must NEVER be a license to sin or stumble a brother (drinking alcohol in front of an alcoholic or those who might not understand, for example), but we DO have much freedom in Christ.

( 23-28):  With verse 22, Paul's second missionary journey comes to an end  with his return home. Starting with verse 23, and after what is likely a period of rest (sound principle for us here), we see the beginning of his third missionary journey with a stop in Ephesus and our introduction to Apollos.  Who is this guy?  Context teaches us that he was a Jew living in Egypt (North Africa).  Alexandria, a center of wealth and learning, was the second largest city in Roman Empire, and where a third of the population was made up of Jews. We are told that Apollos was eloquent and MIGHTY in God's Word and he had the gift of effective communication.  Verse 25 reveals that he had an understanding of who Christ was (an intellectual knowledge) but it took Paul's backup in Aquila and Pricilla to lead him to a genuine, saving (born again) faith in Jesus for his salvation (vs. 26-28). Don't miss this point: God used a husband and wife TEAM then, just as he uses both men AND women today.  

What else does this passage reveal about Apollos?  In verses 27-28, we see that he was, humble, willing to learn and eager (Code 3 sense of urgency again) to share his faith (and the Word -- meaning Christ in the Old Testament) with others. What a pattern for us today!    

 

The point in all this for us is that we NEED backup in order to effectively accomplish the mission God has set for ALL of us. Who and where is yours?  Again, we are NOT to be "Lone Ranger" Christians -- we must at least have a "Tonto."  

With that, where do you stand today?  Do you truly know Christ as Lord and Savior? If so, are you seeking His direction for your ministry (EVERY believer is called to ministry in one form or another), for your family and for your life in general?   Consider the following:  

 

(1) Jesus' first words in His earthly ministry were: " Repent and believe in the Good News " ( Mark 1:15 ). There's that word again! To repent  is a "180" -- a complete, radical change of mind and heart as it relates our sin. To believe  as God intends it to  completely and radically surrender to Him in faith  ("believe" and "faith" have the same Greek root meaning) in the same way you have faith that your body armor will stop the rounds it is designed to stop or that a skydiver's parachute will open (we stake our lives on it)! Moreover, the words repent and believe are literally two sides of the same coin in meaning and intent.