---

Acts 18:1 After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2a And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,

---

There is a major lesson to be learned from Chapter 18 that challenges each of us who go by Christ’s name in the modern world, and by reading the chapter too quickly you’ll likely miss it.

At the core - and I think this is an extremely important thing to recognize – Paul was a pollinator. He traveled to places where Christ was unknown, taught and grew disciples there, mentored them, and sent them out to diverse areas to do the same.


2b …because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.

---

There was major political turbulence in Rome. Claudius, the Emperor, had evicted all Jews from Rome.


So Aquila and Priscilla moved to Corinth. That’s where God introduced them to Paul.

---

And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

---

Leatherworks was a strategic career for evangelism because (1) People who were in this trade were often the hard living, worldly sort, (2) leatherworkers often had an opportunity to create Jewish tabernacle tents, and (3) Everyone used leather (saddles, shoes, clothing, etc.) and so someone like Paul would encounter people of all sorts to teach about Christ.

Additionally, unlike running a store or a farm, working leather could be done from near anywhere so it freed them up to move around in deference to gospel opportunities.

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

---

I’m sure it was never difficult to locate Paul. Just find the nearest synagogue, public gathering place… or jail. when Timothy showed, up Paul was “occupied with the Word” - He was teaching and preaching and trying to persuade gentiles to be saved through Christ Jesus.

There was a lot of risk in accepting “The Word.” Corinth was a highly corrupted city. I read years ago that in that day the phrase “with a Corinthian” was slang for “with a prostitute. It was much like visiting New Orleans at Mardi Gras, but all day every day with no shame.

---

6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

---

So once again Paul couldn’t get any sway with the Jews regarding their own Messiah and vowed to focus on Gentiles. This had to hurt emotionally. Paul wanted his own kinsmen to know the Lord and in continually rejecting Him they rejected salvation for themselves. But as the next verse shows, the mission wasn’t a total failure.

---

7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

---

This would have been important in turning Corinth around. Although many Jews rejected the gospel, Paul found lodging next door to a “worshiper of God” - a Gentile who believed in the God of the Jews - who happened to live next to Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue. Paul shared the gospel with this local Jewish leader, and his family and believed and were baptized. Awesome. It may have cost Crispus his job, though, because in v.17 Sosthenes is named as the synagogue ruler.

---

9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

---

Paul needed encouragement and God provided that. He also provided Paul his first opportunity to stay put for a while. Paul had been a nomadic evangelist, rarely staying in one place for more than a month or so, which also meant rarely forming any long-term relationships or seeing the fruit of his faithfulness. 18 months in one place had to be a wonderful treat for him.

---

12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

---

Paul’s ministry in Corinth was obviously highly productive. We know this because of his letters to the Corinthian church, but also because the Jews tried to stir up another riot. But the local law wouldn’t stop this movement of grace. It appears between the lines that the new synagogue ruler, Sosthenes, also became a believer because the Jews beat him.

---

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

---

Paul’s 18 month ministry at Corinth ended. He took and Priscilla and Aquilla’s on his usual travelling ministry and planted them in Ephesus to grow the Christians there. More Cross Paulination.

---

24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

---

Apollos was a strong believer. He just needed a little correction on his understanding of how the preaching and baptism of John the Baptist fit into the grand scheme of salvation through Christ. He later became important to the church in Corinth.