Don’t be afraid; keep on speaking (Acts 18)

Acts 18:1-22
Key verse 18:9-10

Paul left Athens and continued his missionary journey. In today’s passage, Paul arrived at Corinth. It was about 50 AD. Corinth was 46 miles west of Athens. It was the capital of the province of Achaia and a city of social, cultural, and religious diversity. Corinth was well known for its wealth, idol worships, and sexual corruption. Usually, Paul did not stay long in a city. But he stayed in Corinth for a long time, which was the first time so far in his missionary journey. We are going to find out why he stayed there long and what he did. I pray that this may create or refresh our mission mind for God’s calling.

“1 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.”

In Corinth, Paul met a couple, who would be his precious coworkers all his life time. (1 Cor 16:19; Rom 16:3-5) They were Aquila and his wife Priscilla. Aquila was a Jew born in Pontus a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, They had recently come from Italy (Rome) because the Emperor Claudius had expelled all Jews from Rome out of the anti-Jewish feeling. Paul went to see the couple and worked with them because he was a tentmaker as they were. Every two years the city of Corinth hosted the Isthmian games in honor of Greek god Poseidon, god of water and sea. The games were much like Olympic Games today. These Isthmian games brought thousands of guest to the city and so tents were in high demand. Tent making created the finance Paul needed for his living and his ministry.

“4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.“

While working during weekdays, Paul reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue every Sabbath. He worked as a part time minister like many layman missionaries in our ministry. Then Silas and Timothy came back from Macedonia and rejoined Paul. They probably came with a contribution for Paul from the Macedonian churches. (2 Cor 11:9) So he could devote himself to preaching. As usual he testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. And the Jews were hostile to him.

“6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.”

The Jews reviled Paul, speaking evil against him with abusive or scurrilous language. But Paul did not shrink back. Rather, he hold them accountable for their rejection of Jesus and left the synagogue. He went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. From there Paul preached the gospel to the people in Corinth. Interestingly, the house was next door to the synagogue. What an interesting contrast! When I was in Korea, our Bible center was next to a Buddhist temple. While the Buddhists were chanting, we studied the Bible and praised the Lord. In the face of the opposition from the Jews, many of the Corinthians believed and were baptized. Even the synagogue leader Cripus and his whole household came to believe in the Lord. He was one of a few people Paul baptized in Corinth. (1 Cor 2:3)  

“9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.’”

Then, God appeared to Paul in a vision and said that he should not fear but keep on preaching in Corinth. We are puzzled here because we don’t know exactly what was happening to Paul. But this verse alludes that Paul had fear and he could not or would not speak further in Corinth. What fear did he have?

The first thing we can think of was Jewish people who tenaciously opposed and persecuted Paul. As we can see shortly, they made a united attack on Paul and believers. This tells us the situation Paul was in. From his first missionary journey Jews confronted Paul and persistently hampered Paul’s preaching and even tried to kill him. In Pisidian Antioch, Jews stirred up persecution against Paul out of jealousy. In Iconium, Jews along with some Gentiles plotted to stone Paul. In Lystra and Derbe, Jews stoned Paul and he was almost dead. Their persecution continued in Thessalonica, Berea and then here in Corinth as well. In Corinth Paul felt that his life was in danger and he should leave there.

Paul might also have been overwhelmed by the Corinthians and their culture and sinful atmosphere, which was alluded in 1 Cor 2:3, “I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.” Corinth was a big city with a great population and all kinds of people and idols. The people were proud and driven by idols and pagan culture. All this might have overwhelmed Paul. It was the feeling Korean missionaries had when they came to America a most advanced country to preach the gospel with broken English.

But we still don’t know exactly why he was afraid. One thing is clear: Paul had no other choice but to leave there. Then, God appeared to him and said that he should not fear because God would be with him and protect him. As we can see shortly in verses 12-17, God protected Paul from Jews as he promised. It was a great encouragement for Paul. However, God was not just encouraging him to overcome fear. If we look at verses 9 and 10 carefully, we can rephrase them as follows.

“Do not be afraid for I am with you and no one is going to attack and harm you. Instead, keep on speaking and do not be silent because I have many people in this city.”

The main point here is that Paul should speak the word of God continually. In other words, God wanted Paul to stay long in Corinth and preach the gospel. Why? It was because God had many people in that city. ESV reads, “I have many in this city who are my people.” Here the people included not only those who believed God but also those who would believe. There were some people who desperately sought God’s salvation. There were many people who were not saved yet in Corinth. In such a big and sinful city, there were still many people who God prepared for Paul but didn’t hear the gospel yet. God was concerned about them. He loved them. He wanted to save them. That is God’s heart toward people. That is God’s desire for his servants. So he commanded Paul not to leave quickly but to stay long and speak the word of God until all his people would hear the gospel. “Don’t leave. Don’t be quiet. Don’t give up. But speak the word continually and boldly for I have many people here.”

Like Paul, we may have similar fear in preaching and serving people with the word of God. We missionaries have devoted ourselves to preaching the word since our young age. We left our home and our family members to preach to other countries. Some missionaries have served the campus mission for more than 40 years. We gave up many opportunities to get better lives in order to serve Bible students. We even had to let our children suffer together with us to serve the campus mission. I feel sorry for my children who have suffered together with me. They were confused and they may be still unsure of what I am doing here and why they are here with me. Many missionaries also suffer from their unfruitful ministries. We are rejected by students numerously. It looks like there are no more students for us. So we can be discouraged and even have fear in preaching the gospel. Then we become sorry and even afraid to lose more of our time and energy. Then we feel that we should be quiet, taking care of our children and enjoying gardening and tennis.

These days Korea is in turmoil because of President Park’s scandal. One time when she apologized to the people, she said: “I'm so mortified and ashamed that I find myself asking ‘Did I become a president for this'." Because of her insincere apology, however, Korean people are making fun of her, saying, “I’m so mortified and ashamed, finding myself asking, ‘Did I become a citizen of Korea for this.’” Sometimes, in frustration we also say, “I am so disappointed and ashamed that I find myself asking ‘Did I become a missionary for this.’”

But God is telling us, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” He says that we should not afraid but continue to speak the word of God for he has many on this campus. Though we are rejected many times, there are still many students whom he wants to save and has prepared for us.

In the time of King Ahab, Elijah fought by himself with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah. He defeated them and killed them. Then knowing that Queen Jezebel was trying to kill him, Elijah ran for his life into the wilderness. He was afraid and tried, he rather wanted to die there. He said to the Lord, “I am the only left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” Then, the Lord showed his power in a strong wind and fire and said to Elijah, “What are you doing here, Elijah? …I have reserve seven thousand in Israel – all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Elijah thought that he was the only one left who served God. But actually there were 7,000 in Israel God reserved for his name sake.

God never loses the game against Satan. There are always some people whom God prepares for us but we didn’t find yet. So God is commanding us not be quiet but speak the word of God faithfully and boldly regardless of our difficulties and our unfruitfulness. Recently, when he preached on campus, LL met one student who was interested in Bible study. While talking with him, another student overheard it and said he wanted to study too. This semester God has granted several new Bible students. God has still many people here on campus. We are not alone and God will bear fruits for us. Even when we are in fear and in frustration, he wants us to keep on speaking and teaching to people. If we were quiet and gave up, he would be very sorry. He is not pleased with those who shrink back in fear. (Heb 10:38)  He commands us to speak the gospel to people. He is telling us, “Do not be afraid for I am with you. Keep on speaking and do not be silent because I have many people here.”

“11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.”

After he heard God’s command and encouragement, Paul decided to stay there. Actually, he stayed there one year and six months, which was the longest stay ever in his two missionary journeys. The city of Corinth was well known for her immoral sins and all kinds of problems as we can see in the books for Corinthians. But to God it was strategically an importance city in terms of population and location. While staying in Corinth, Paul had opportunity to spread the gospel to other cities in Achaia as well. (1 Cor 11:10; 2 Cor 1:1). He also wrote the two epistles for the Thessalonians, which are the first New Testament books he wrote. God used the city of Corinth as the base to evangelize surrounding cities.

 “12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 ‘This man,’ they charged, ‘is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.’”

One day, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and suing him, saying that that Paul was teaching against the law. At that time Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the chief judicial officer. He was not interested in the charge because it was not a matter he could handle. So, he drove them off. In anger, the Jews beat Sosthenes the synagogue ruler who probably believed in Jesus. But Gallio did not care. Probably he ignored them because of the anti-Jewish-feeling. By the way, Paul tried to defend himself but he didn’t have to because God used Gallio to protect him unharmed. This incident showed how God protected Paul, as he promised (18:10).

 “18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.”

After one year and a half, Paul left for Antioch together with Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off because of the vow he made. (Num 6:18) We don’t know what vow he made. But probably it had to do with his ministry. On his way to Antioch, he stop by Ephesus where he reasoned with the Jews. Then he left, promising that he would come back according to God’s will. He landed at Caesarea and went to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.

This way he finished his second missionary journey. The original purpose of this journey was to strengthen the churches he pioneered in his first journey. Unexpectedly, however, God led him to Europe through a vision where a man begged him to come over to Macedonia and help them. However, wherever Paul went, he faced persecution. Yet, his mission journey was fruitful, getting many Gentiles. And for the first time, Paul stayed long in Corinth and laid a foundation to pioneer many other surrounding cities in Europe.

In today’s passage, God commanded Paul to continue to preach without fear because God wanted to save many people in Corinth and surrounding cities. Likewise, God also wants us to stay long with confidence where he called us and preach the gospel.

Yesterday, I got an unexpected text message from JG. He said, “I am ready in 10 min.” I said to myself, “What?” It was because he said he was in Kentucky this weekend. So I thought he would miss our Bible study. By the way, the reason he went to Kentucky was to attend someone’s funeral. The person was JG’s old friend and his spiritual mentor who helped him get out of his dark life. He was a pastor and married JG and OR in June this year. Last week the pastor was killed in a car accident along with his youngest daughter. He was survived by his wife and his other two daughters. After coming back from the funeral, he sent me a text to have a Bible study as scheduled. JG was greatly shocked by his sudden death. He said he still did not have a sense of realization of the loss. He shared what happened in detail, which made me cry. His wife got the tragic news first while JG was working. She came to his workplace and handed a greeting card she bought for him, where she wrote, “JG, Pastor David finished his work here and God called him home today… But God has brought you another David.” Another David was me. JG said in tears that he was really thankful to have me as his new Bible teacher and spiritual mentor. At this, I could not check my tears because I learned that God had some people who needed my help. God said to me, “‘Keep on speaking, do not be silent…because I have many people in this city.”

When I came here 23 years ago I expected that I would be a fruitful missionary. At first, I met a quiet number of Bible students. Interestingly, the names of my first three Bible students were all David. I had more Bible students afterward. My preaching was not bad. But from some time on, my preaching was not fruitful anymore. Year after year I still struggled with a couple of old Bible students. I thought there was no Bible students for me on campus. As I grew old, I felt I should wrap up my mission life on campus and do something else, spending more time with my children and preparing for my retirement. Then, this summer I met JG in a strange way. He has been very faithful to our Bible study. And he regards me as his spiritual mentor. Recently, some others asked me for help. I have realized that God has people for me and so I should not be quiet but keep on speaking. The words “because I have many in this city” echoed in my ears and convinced me of God’s calling for me. I am so thankful that God is using me to serve his people though I am undeserving.”    

I shouldn’t be afraid or quiet. You also shouldn’t be quiet because of fear and frustration. You and I must keep on speaking on campus and at work because God has prepared many for us. He wants us to stay long where he called us and keep on speaking the word of God.

There is a grave yard beside Han River in Seoul, called Yangwajin Foreigner’s Cemetery, where 376 foreign missionaries and their children are buried. One of the tombs reads, “I would rather be buried in Korea than in Westminster Abbey.” Another reads, “If I had a thousand lives to give, Korea should have them all.” They left their countries to find and serve Korean people God had prepared for them. They lived in Korea and died there to obey God’s command, “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent…because I have many people in this country.”
By David Yun