The Establishment of the Corinthian Church: Acts 18:1-11

The Setting

Where: Corinth

Corinth was at one time the capital city of the province Achaia

it had been destroyed by Rome in 147 BC

rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 47 BC

in the 1st Century AD, it and the surrounding towns boasted a population of 700,000

There was a temple to Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility

the temple housed 1,000 prostitutes for “religious” purposes

the city was morally bankrupt that made other heathen cities look pious

in Paul’s first letter to the church here, he would address the matter of a man in the church who was engaged in impurities with his father’s wife - stepmother- and Paul said “even the heathen don’t do that.”

Who: Aquila and Priscilla

Jews who had recently come from Italy

Aquila was born in Pontus

Acts 2:9 tells us that on the Day of Pentecost, among those who were there and heard the word in their own tongues were people from Pontus

considering the events of Acts 18 come approximately 10 years after Pentecost, it is possible that Aquila was saved and baptized that day, traveled back home to Pontus, moved to Italy, and then was expelled from that country all within that time frame. But that is not stated in Scripture, so we will leave that to the annals of maybes

they were tentmakers

because of this, they had a commonality with Paul

merchants, travelers, soldiers, and others all needed tents, so this was an occupation that was not going out of vogue anytime soon

Paul worked to support himself and the ministry, not only here, but in Thessalonica

1 Thessalonians 2:9 “For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.”

2 Thessalonians 3:7-10

Scripture is very clear: if you don’t work, you don’t eat!

Proverbs tells the sluggard to look at the ant, and consider her wisdom in working hard to store up for hard times

it is important -necessary - to work!

work is good...even before the Fall, Adam worked in the garden

it only became a burden and a chore because of sin

even Jesus had a job!

Sabbath Sermons

Although Paul worked 6 days a week making tents, on the Sabbath, he was in the synagogue preaching to those who were gathered

late in the 19th century, a team of archeologists from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens uncovered a door lintel that had the inscription “The Synagogue of the Hebrews.” It’s interesting to note this could have been the same one Paul stood in for weeks and preached

it seems that Paul was doing his duty in preaching, but he was not feeling victorious

1 Corinthians 2:1–3 “And I, when I came to you, brothers...was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,”

sometimes in our efforts, we get weary. Maybe even depressed?

Charles Spurgeon talked openly about his battles with depression, and he even said it was often so deep and dark that he imagined no one else had ever gone there before. However, he understood one thing about serving the Lord:

Before any great achievement, some measure of depression is very usual.

Charles Spurgeon

Galatians 6:9 “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

It is not a sin to feel this way, for even Jesus grew weary and saddened by a lack of results sometimes

It is a sin to stay that way and to wallow in self-pity

Paul was encouraged when Silas and Timothy joined him

He got a renewed vision of the mission

it was not important whether or not he saw results

his commission was to tell them of Christ

Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees all across the Midwest. He would return and care for them often, but he never worried about whether or not the people appreciated them, or if the trees survived. He simply planted the trees, watered and cared for them, and let the Lord do the rest

A church was established here in Corinth, as we will see shortly

Paul wrote at least 4 letters to them, but only two are preserved for us

the first letter is referenced in 1 Corinthians 5 as “my previous letter”

later, in 2 Corinthians 3, he references another letter known as as “the letter of tears”

But despite his urgent preaching of the Gospel in the synagogue, his words fell upon deaf ears. The Jews opposed them and blasphemed

the KJV says here they “opposed themselves”

while the meaning is they opposed Paul and Silas, it cannot be overlooked that the Jews did indeed oppose themselves, for all who reject the Son of God do bring judgement upon themselves

1 Corinthians 1:22–23 ESV

For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,

There is no direct reference to the Jews demanding a sign in this passage, but this was common for them, and it was common for the Greeks to see this as foolishness, as we witnessed in Athens back in chapter 17

But let God be true and every man a liar! (Romans 3:4)

The Jews Reject the Truth

Paul dusted off his clothes to symbolically represent his words to them: “your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean.”

this follows in the example that Jesus instructed His disciples to do when He told them if a city rejected them, they were to dust off their shoes and move on to the next city

However, there were a few converts in this infant stage in Corinth.

Paul left the house of Aquila and Priscilla and took up residence with Justus, who lived next door to the synagogue.

this was likely because Paul wanted a location near the synagogue for those faithful converts to gather since he was no longer going to be preaching in the synagogue

this would have been the most convenient location for them

if not a convert, Justus was at least friendly to the Christian message

most likely, though, he was a Christian

it is believed that he was also known as Gaius, perhaps as a surname

in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul mentions that he he baptized Crispus and Gaius in Corinth

Crispus Saved and Baptized

All was not for naught

Crispus was the chief ruler of the synagogue

not a priest

but a significant role: chief administrator

he would make sure everything was set up in the synagogue

making sure the scrolls are organized, wine stores are full, overseeing services, maintaining the building, etc.

probably the only thing he wasn’t in charge of was giving the Scripture and explanations

His conversion was so significant that Paul baptized him personally, one of only a few people that he baptized in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:14-16)

Paul’s Safety Guaranteed

God promises Paul will not be harmed in Corinth

He knew the state of Paul’s mind right about now

surely Paul is thinking about how every time he sees converts and some semblance of success in a city, what follows next is beatings, stonings, and banishment

God reassures him this will not happen here, so Paul is comforted once again. He tells Paul that He has many people in this city

reminds me of Elijah being reassured by God that He has reserved 7,000 people that had not bowed to Ba’al

these may be people who are already saved, or that God is telling Paul to stay here, because there are many who will convert, therefore God will keep him safe for as long as it takes

the missionaries stay 18 months in Corinth

preaching the Word

growing the church

The Church at Corinth

The church at Corinth got off to a rocky start. All 4 of Paul’s letters seem to have had some level of correction. Perhaps at times he regretted going there because they were so problematic. They struggled to lay aside all of the besetting sins and heavy weights of their former life and the present evil that they lived in, but as all Christians, they must battle for the truth, no matter how difficult.

This church was both a marvel and a mess, and Paul’s concern was to help them clean up the mess so only the marvel would be left for the godless city of Corinth to see.

Roger Ellsworth

This was not the Church of Paul, but the Church of Jesus Christ. It finally overcame the struggles of it’s youth and it became a church that endured for many centuries because it was built on the rock of Truth that Jesus is the Son of God. Storms battered it, even the earth shook under it and waves of sin threatened to swamp it, but the church remained.

The church is not founded upon a style of leadership, nor even on doctrine per se, but rather upon the gospel of the crucified Messiah (2:2), which Paul preached when he first came to Corinth.

Roy E. Ciampa; Brian S. Rosner