Grace Bible Church Gillette, Wyoming

2. Corinth was the leading commercial city of Greece. It was located just off the isthmus that separated Peloponnesus and Achaia. Obviously, all land trade went through Corinth. There were also two seaports on the isthmus so that Corinth received merchant ships from the Adriatic Sea (northwest) and Aegean Sea (southeast). Corinth also saved time and provided safe passage between the two seas by allowing the ships to dock and transport goods across the isthmus. This was accomplished by caravans but they also would transport the ship itself by rolling it over logs. Later, in history, a canal was engineered.

3. With busy international trade came the mixture of cultures, religions, and vices. Corinth was known for its temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, along with over 1,000 temple prostitutes. So immoral was the city that a synonym for immoral behavior was “corinthianize.”

B. Aquila and Priscilla (Ac 18:2)

1. Luke introduced Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila was a Jew from Pontus. Pontus was a province in northeastern Bithynia (where Paul was forbidden to go, Ac 16:7). Some from Pontus were present in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost (Ac 2:9). Also, Peter wrote to those scattered in Pontus (1Pe 1:1).

2. Recently he came from Italy with his wife Priscilla, who was just as prevalent as her husband (Ac 18:18, 26 Ro 16:3; 1Co 16:19; 2Ti 4:19). They were a wonderful example of a husband and wife ministry team, and Priscilla played a major role.

3. They, along with other Jews, were expelled from Rome by Claudius (A.D. 50). Claudius became the fourth Roman Empower, succeeding Caligula in A.D. 41. He expelled the Jews for a time because they were “indulging in constant riots at the instigation of Chrestus (Christ)” (Suetonius, Claud., 25:4; cf. Ac 16:20-21). Unlike mythological genre, Luke, the inspired historian, recorded this historical event as well as the famine during Claudius’ reign (Ac 11:28-30).

C. Artisans of Tent Making (Ac 18:3)

1. Paul initially stayed with Aquila & Priscilla because they were “tentmakers” (skēnopoios - tentmaker or worker with leather) by trade. It was the custom for all Jewish boys to learn a trade, including sons of rabbis.

2. The tents were made out of both goat’s hair and leather. Paul was from the province of Cilicia, known for cilicium, goat’s hair material. This trade became invaluable to Paul who, quite often supported himself in ministry (cf. Ac 20:34-35; 1Co 4:12; 9:6; 1Th 2:9)

II. OPPORTUNITY MINISTRY

A. Convincing Jews and Greeks (Ac 18:4)

1. Though Paul was practicing his trade as a tentmaker, his ultimate purpose as an apostle was to be a witness for Christ.

2. While he continued his trade, every Sabbath, he was “reasoning” (dialegomai - dialogue and argumentation, Ac 17:2-3, 17; 18:19; 19:8-9; 20:7) in the Synagogue.

3. In particular, he was ministering to the Jews and Greeks (God-worshippers) and attempting to convince them.

B. Completely Devoted to the Word (Ac 18:5)

1. Silas and Timothy eventually joined him in the ministry at Corinth (2Co 1:19). It appears that they had joined him earlier in Athens (Ac 17:15). While at Athens, Timothy was sent to Thessalonica to encourage the church in the midst of persecution (1Th 3:1-6). Silas had been sent from Athens to Macedonia (possibly Philippi cf. Php 4:15; 2Co 11:9), before he and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth.

2. When Silas and Timothy arrived, along with ministry support (cf. Php 4:15; 2Co 11:9 cf. 1Ti 5:17-18), Paul was then able to “devote completely” (sunechō - hold together, sustain, wholly absorbed) his time to ministry.

3. Paul “solemnly testified” (diamarturomai - serious exhortation of the truth, Ac 2:40; 8:25; 10:42; 18:5; 20:21, 23, 24; 28:23) to what he and the other apostles had been teaching, namely, that Jesus was the Christ (Ac 2:36; 3:20; 5:42; 9:22; 17:2-3; 18:28).

C. Circumvented to the Gentiles (Ac 18:6)

1. The Jews rejected Paul’s teaching by both “resisting” it (antitassō - set oneself against) and “blaspheming” (blasphēmeō - defame one’s reputation, Ac 13:45) against God (Christ) and His gospel.

2. The shaking out of garments is akin to shaking the dust off one’s feet (Mt 10:14-15 cf. Ac 13:51). In Neh 5:13, it was a symbol of God’s punishment to those who were unfaithful to the Lord.

3. It was also a symbol that a divine spokesman had a divine responsibility to warn the people. Otherwise, the blood of the unwarned people would be on the spokesman’s head (Eze 33:1-6). Now that the Jews had been warned, the blood was on their own heads, and they were solely responsible for their rejection and blasphemy.

4. Paul had not only fulfilled his responsibility in telling the Jews (“I am clean”), but he was now going to direct all his attention to the Gentiles in Corinth. Paul will continue to use this protocol (Ac 19:8-9).

D. Converted Titius Justus (Ac 18:7)

1. Afterwards, Paul stayed in the house of Titius Justus, which advantageously was aside of the synagogue. Titius most likely responded to Paul’s gospel and was a believer. He was a Greek and a God-fearer who had associated with Judaism in order to have a relationship with God.

2. Since Romans generally had three names, some suspect that he was “Gaius” Titius Justus from Ro 16:23 and 1Co 1:14.

E. Converted Crispus (Ac 18:8a)

1. Crispus, who was a Jewish leader in the synagogue received Paul’s message. He and his whole family believed in the Lord.

2. This no doubt infuriated those Jews who rejected the gospel because Paul would be brought before the judgment seat (Ac 18:12).

F. Converted Many Corinthians (Ac 18:8b)

1. As a result of Paul’s devotion to the word, “many” of the Gentiles from Corinth believed.

2. Not only did they believe, but the command of the Lord to baptize believers was carried out. Paul wrote in 1Co 1:14 that he personally baptized Crispus and Gaius (Titius Justus).

III. OCCUPANCY MINISTRY

A. Paul Was Not To Be Afraid (Ac 18:9)

1. The Lord came to Paul in a vision, the third of six visions recorded in Acts (Ac 9:12; 16:9, 18:9-10; 22:17-18; 23:11; 27:23-24, MSB).

2. Even though there were converts in Corinth, the persecution must have made Paul fearful of preaching (1Co 2:3; 1Th 2:2; Ep 6:19). The Lord exhorted him to go on preaching in Corinth.

B. Paul Would Not Be Harmed (Ac 18:10)

1. There must have been threats or rumors of threats of physical harm to Paul. But the Lord assured him that he would be kept safe.

2. There were others in the city, whom the Lord considered to be his people, who had not yet believed. Therefore, Paul was to stay in Corinth and preach.

C. Paul Settled in Corinth. (Ac 18:11)

1. So, Paul settled in Corinth and preached and taught for a year and a half.

2. There was a group of believers in Corinth. They were baptized and a church was established. Paul continued to teach the Word of God among them. He also wrote 1 & 2 Thessalonians while staying in Corinth.

IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS

A. Occupation Ministry

1. Occupation Ministry is ministering to those people who have a common occupation, i.e. those with whom you work or share a common interest.

2. The Lord will lead us in an occupation or place of employment. But the Lord has us there in order to minister to particular people. We may not know who they are or when this will happen, but the Lord’s purpose is always ministry.

3. Here we had a preacher (Paul) who was also a tentmaker, the Lord used both occupations for ministry. Paul was a tent-maker and a Christian-maker. Men dwell in the one while God dwells in the other

4. I believe that in many cases, he has tentmakers, but the Lord also wants to make them preachers. You won’t have to quit your job because the Lord wants you right there. But He also wants you there to preach and minister to others. All believers are in ministry full-time, some just happen to have jobs.

5. This also applies to Christian employers. What would do if you the apostle Paul worked for you part-time? He works hard, but if he gets an opportunity to share Christ with your customers, Paul is going to take it. What if you get a phone call from one of your customers that this guy Paul was preaching to them on the job? Who would you support, Paul or the customer?

6. The Lord exhorts us with the same comfort and protection that he gave in Paul’s vision.

B. Opportunity Ministry

1. Opportunity Ministry is ministering during few or many ministry opportunities and knowing when to redirect those opportunities.

2. The Lord also wants us to serve Him according to our opportunities. Sometimes the Lord provides many opportunities and we have to be willing to take advantage and be engaged in them.

3. Other times the opportunities are limited, such as time constraints or an extra workload. But the point is that Lord wants us to be engaged even if our time is limited. This is the real challenge. We should not say that we can’t serve because we don’t have that much time. Maybe we should be saying, “my time time is limited, and since I must serve the Lord, then I can’t always do these other things.

4. We also have to be willing to shake the dust from those who are going nowhere spiritually and redirect our focus on those who are seeking the Lord.

C. Occupancy Ministry

1. Occupancy Ministry is being settled down in a location and ministering to the people who also have settled there.

2. Sometimes, in order to minister to some people, believers must settled in that area for a long time. This means consistently being devoted to the Word, consistently being devoted to a church, consistently being devoted to having a good testimony, and consistently being devoted to witnessing.

3. But one has to wonder what would happen if the apostle Paul came to Gillette for a year and a half. Would we see many more people come to Christ through Paul’s efforts? What if at the end of that year and half, on his way out of Gillette, Paul stopped by our church and said, “How long have you lived here? …And what have you been doing all this time?”

Grace Bible Church · 4000 E. Collins Rd · PO Box #3762 · Gillette, WY · (307) 686-1516