Acts 18 — Many People in This City

Today’s Passage: Acts 18

Paul comes to Corinth and settles in, working leather beside Aquila and Priscilla, who share both his trade and his faith. Every Sabbath he reasons in the synagogue, and when the opposition hardens against him he moves only as far as the house next door, into the home of a God-fearing man named Titus Justus. Crispus, the synagogue leader, believes with his whole household, and many Corinthians are baptized. Then, in a vision one night, the Lord speaks a word to steady him: do not be afraid, keep on speaking, do not be silent, for I am with you, and I have many people in this city. So Paul stays a year and a half. When at last he is dragged before the proconsul Gallio, the charge collapses, for Gallio will not make the gospel a crime. After a vow kept at Cenchrea, Paul sails for home, leaving Priscilla and Aquila at Ephesus, greeting the church at Jerusalem, and returning to Antioch before setting out once more to strengthen the disciples. Meanwhile a gifted Alexandrian named Apollos arrives at Ephesus, eloquent and fervent, though he knows only the baptism of John, and Priscilla and Aquila quietly take him aside to teach him the way of God more accurately. The workshop, the vision, and that more accurate way are not three separate sermons but one single climb, and the whole of it rests upon one promise: the Lord has many people in this city.

The vision was real, given to an apostle at a particular hour of need. It was never a promise that God would go on speaking such private night words to every believer, rivaling the finished and settled word He has already given us in Scripture. We do not wait for a fresh vision in the dark to be sure the Spirit is with us, for He is already with everyone who belongs to Christ.

As you read, hold this: The Lord has many people in this city.

Acts 18:1–8 (BSB)

¹ After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, ³ and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was. ⁴ Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike. ⁵ And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶ But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷ So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his whole household believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard the message believed and were baptized.

Paul comes down from the heights of Mars Hill in Athens to a leatherworker’s bench in Corinth, and the very exile that had scattered Aquila and Priscilla now proves to be God’s quiet providence, setting ready partners in his path. He reasons in the synagogue Sabbath after Sabbath, and when Silas and Timothy arrive he gives himself over wholly to the word. When the opposition turns to insult, he answers with a solemn gesture, shaking out his garments, and then moves only as far as the house next door rather than leaving the city altogether. And there the harvest comes: Crispus the synagogue leader believes with his whole household, and many Corinthians hear the message, believe, and are baptized. Rejection and harvest grow up together on the same street.

Acts 18:9–11 (BSB)

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 will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians.

This is a night vision given to a weary apostle. Do not be afraid, the Lord says; keep on speaking, and do not fall silent. He promises His presence and, for this season, His protection, and He tells Paul of a hidden people already known and loved by Christ. And so Paul stays a year and a half. Sometimes the miracle is not a sudden deliverance but a long and patient obedience in a hard place.

Acts 18:12–17 (BSB)

¹² While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat. ¹³ “This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said. ¹⁴ But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint. ¹⁵ But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.” ¹⁶ And he drove them away from the judgment seat. ¹⁷ At this, the crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Gallio refuses to treat what he sees as an internal religious quarrel as a crime, and so the gospel is not stamped illegal in the province. The scene is far from tidy, for Sosthenes is seized and beaten while Gallio pays the violence no mind at all. Yet the ruling itself clears room for the mission to keep going in Achaia. God can use even a dismissive Roman official to guard His work. The Lord who has many people in this city also opens the civic space where His word can be freely spoken.

Acts 18:18–23 (BSB)

¹⁸ Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. ¹⁹ When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay for a while longer, he declined. ²¹ But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus. ²² When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch. ²³ After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

The vow Paul keeps at Cenchrea shows him free to practice the devotion of his fathers by his own glad choice, without ever making it a requirement for salvation. He leaves Priscilla and Aquila at Ephesus, greets the church at Jerusalem, returns to Antioch, and then sets out on his third journey by going from place to place strengthening the disciples. The word is not only carried forward into new ground; it is also confirmed and settled in those who have already believed.

Acts 18:24–28 (BSB)

²⁴ Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵ He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶ And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷ When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸ For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Apollos comes with nearly everything. He has eloquence, a deep knowledge of the Scriptures, and a fervent spirit, and yet there is a gap in what he knows, for he understands only the baptism of John and not the fullness of what has come in Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila hear him and take him aside, and we should not pass over her part in it, for this gifted and eloquent man is taught the way of God more accurately by a husband and wife together, Priscilla plainly named among them. Yet neither should we press the scene into a lesson it was never meant to teach, as though it overturned God’s design for the office of elder in the church, for the eldership is simply not what this moment is about. What we do see is that accuracy in teaching is a form of love, and that a truly humble man receives it. When Apollos crosses over into Achaia he becomes a great help to those who had believed by grace, proving powerfully from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The Lord who has many people in a city also raises up and multiplies teachers to feed them.