suffer because he was preaching to those in other lands. He might have decided to return home and let someone else preach in the hard places. When Paul became tired and discouraged, his Lord always comforted him and brought words of encouragement to him. At Corinth the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision one night saying, “ Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.” How Paul must have rejoiced at this wonderful message! Perhaps you become discouraged that your family and your friends refuse to accept the Lord Jesus. Perhaps they make fun of you and cause you much unhappiness because you are a Christian. Remember, the words of the Lord Jesus to Paul are His promise to you too. Remember that He said “ Go” and, “ Lo, I am with you alway.” GOW NS
was hearing the Word; second there was believing the Word; and, third, there was baptism. This is the divine order. It dare not be reversed. Men are to be baptized as a confession of the work of grace already accomplished in their hearts, not in order to get something accom plished, as so many seem to think. There is no mystical power in water to regen erate anyone. Paul’s Heavenly Vision vv. 9-11 God knows when His servants need encouragement and supplies it. On this occasion, faced with opposition and the difficulties connected with cultured pa ganism, Paul doubtless had special need for a word of encouragement and assur ance. In it he was told that there would be a real harvest of souls in wicked Corinth. In obedience to the vision he labored with great success in this me tropolis for eighteen months. Paul’s Apprehension vv. 12-16 After Paul had been ministering in Corinth for a year and a half, the Jews apprehended him and brought him before Gallio, the proconsul, charging him with illegal teaching regarding worship (v. 13). It may have had to do with his fail ure to demand that Gentiles be circum cised. Be that as it may, the deputy showed no sympathy with these Jews. But more than this, neither did he show any interest in Paul’s message (v. 14). “ Gallio cared for none of those things” (v. 17). He is the type of the careless, indifferent person who, though advo cating peace at any cost, does nothing with the Prince of Peace as far as his own soul is concerned. During Paul’s second missionary jour ney he visited the town of Corinth, one of the greatest and yet one of the most wicked towns in Paul’s day. In Corinth Paul met Priscilla and Aquila, a couple who were Jews. Paul lived with this couple while he was in Corinth. Both he and they were tentmakers. Each sabbath day Paul spoke in the synagogue. When the Jews of Corinth refused to accept the gospel, Paul again turned to the Gentiles with the good news of salvation. For one and one half years Paul preached in Corinth. Many found the Lord Jesus as their Saviour during that time. Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and many others of the Corinthians believed and were baptized. Some of the people became angry at Paul’s message and tried to cause trouble for the great missionary. At last Paul with Priscilla and Aquila left Corinth and sailed to Syria. Paul might easily have become dis couraged at the hardships he had to Helps For the Children Paul At Work in Corinth Acts 18:l-18a Memory Selection: “Then spake the Lord to Paul . . . Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace; For I am with thee . . .” (Acts 18:9, 10).
April 26, 1953 PAUL FACES OPPOSITION Acts 18:1, 4-16 Pointers on the Lesson As in last week’s lesson we had ma terial relating to Paul’s first missionary journey, so in this week’s lesson we have a vivid sample of the sort of ministry that was carried on in connection with his second missionary journey. The cen ter of activity was Corinth, a great but wicked city. To “ corinthianize” was symbolic of engaging in all sorts of de filing practices of the flesh. A reflection of the sort of things commonly practiced in Corinth is to be found in the Corin thian Epistles. It is not surprising that a bit of the paganism seeped into the church when there was so much of it all about. The Corinthian church became a small island of light in the midst of a sea of awful darkness. Paul’s Trade in Corinth vv. 1-3 When Paul came to Corinth there was not a believer in it except possibly Aquila and Priscilla. There was no Christian organization to support him. Thus Paul decided to support himself through the occupation of tentmaking. He contacted Aquila and Priscilla who were also tent- makers and lived with them and worked with them. It is not certain when these companions of Paul became believers, whether before being forced to leave Rome or after their contact with Paul. At any rate, we know that in future days they were engaged with Paul in the Lord’s service and in First Corinthians 16:19, Paul refers to “ the church that is in their house.” As a tentmaker in Corinth, Paul showed his willingness, if necessity de manded it, to work w’th his hands to support himself. In his day every Jewish lad was taught a trade so as to be able to support himself. Paul’s Real Vocation vv. 4-8 Though Paul supported himself by tentmaking, yet his real calling was to preach the gospel. He did this in the Jewish synagogues as long as they were open to him (v. 6). Note that he “ rea soned” with his hearers and then “ per suaded” them to do something about the truth he presented (v. 4). He has set a good example for preachers today. We see in verse 5 how he was “ constrained by the word” (ARV) to show that “Jesus was the Christ.” It was then that he got into trouble. Seeing that he could not continue in the synagogue, he reminded the Jews that the responsibility for re jecting Christ now lay with them. He would now turn to the Gentiles (v. 6). But in spite of this general rejection, there was a sheaf of fruit from his preaching. Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed and furthermore, “many of the Corinthians hearing be lieved, and were baptized” (v. 8). Note the order in the miracle that happened among these Corinthians. First, there
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