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Summary

Acts 18:1–4 – Paul at Corinth

What happens:
Paul arrives in Corinth and stays with Aquila and Priscilla, who had recently left Italy. Because they are tentmakers, Paul works with them. He reasons in the synagogue every Sabbath, persuading Jews and Greeks.

What it means:
Paul models partnership in ministry by combining tentmaking with preaching. The gospel advances through relationships and marketplace witness, reaching both Jewish and Gentile listeners.


Acts 18:5–11 – Encouragement and Promise

What happens:
When Silas and Timothy arrive from Macedonia, Paul devotes himself fully to preaching, testifying that Jesus is the Messiah. Opposition from the Jews leads Paul to shake out his garments and declare that he will go to the Gentiles. The Lord appears to him in a vision, telling him not to be afraid but to keep speaking and that no one will harm him. Paul stays in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching the word of God.

What it means:
Divine reassurance sustains bold proclamation amid opposition. God’s guidance secures Paul’s mission among the Gentiles, demonstrating that obedience to the Spirit ensures both protection and effectiveness.


Acts 18:12–17 – Legal Conflict

What happens:
While Gallio is proconsul of Achaia, the Jews bring Paul before the tribunal, accusing him of persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law. Gallio, seeing it as a Jewish internal matter, refuses to judge and drives them off. The crowd then seizes Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beats him.

What it means:
Civil authorities can provide relief when they refuse to enforce religious disputes. God uses such moments to advance the church’s freedom and expose hostility without punitive power.


Acts 18:18–23 – Ministry in Ephesus and Return

What happens:
Paul, after staying some time, leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, sails to Syria with a vow fulfilled in Cenchreae, and returns to Antioch. From there he revisits Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

What it means:
Paul’s pattern of revisitation underscores the importance of follow-up in discipleship. Fulfilling personal commitments and strengthening existing communities are integral to sustained church health.


Acts 18:24–28 – Apollos in Ephesus

What happens:
A Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker from Alexandria, arrives in Ephesus knowing only John’s baptism. Priscilla and Aquila hear him and explain the way of God more accurately. Apollos then boldly speaks in the synagogue, refuting Jews with Scripture and proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

What it means:
Leaders benefit from mentoring to grow in doctrinal understanding. God equips gifted speakers to become even more effective when guided into fuller truth, empowering them to strengthen the church through Scripture.


Application

  • Rely on marketplace partnerships to advance the gospel, integrating daily work with ministry
  • Trust God’s protection and encouragement when facing opposition, continuing boldly in obedience
  • Appreciate legal safeguards that allow the church to operate freely, praying for justice and relief
  • Revisit and strengthen existing communities, recognizing that follow-up fosters lasting growth
  • Mentor and be mentored in truth, helping leaders mature in their understanding and witness

Bible

1After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;

2And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.

3And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

4And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

5And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

6And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

7And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

8And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

9Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:

10For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

11And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat,

13Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.

14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:

15But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

16And he drave them from the judgment seat.

17Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

18And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.

19And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

20When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;

21But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.

22And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

23And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

24And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

25This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.

26And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.

27And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

28For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

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