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A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold is as pictures of silver.(Prov.25:11) It is so important to speak the right words to people at the right time to produce the right results. When you think of apples of gold in pictures of silver, then you are thinking of wealth and excellence. When we speak wisdom into the lives of others we are making them wealthy. Therefore we must seek God for He is the source of all wisdom and He will give us just the right words needed at the right time.
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#And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. And 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. Acts 18:22,23
So Paul spent time in Galatia and Phrygia in order to strengthen all the disciples. He had planted those churches on his previous missionary journey. What a blessing Paul was to those churches and the disciples as he confronted all the false teachers who were creating havoc in the churches. We need to have a Paul to mentor us in these days of apostasy that we are living in. As Paul is going to strengthen Apollos in the faith and teach us how that one can plant the seed, while the other waters the seed so God can get the increase. I praise God as I am now in the latter stages of the ministry and seeking to strengthen all the brothers and sisters suffering from mental illness. This illness is a stigma in the Church and it should not be, as Paul had the thorn in the flesh, We do not know what this was it very well could have been a mental illness, as he said a messenger of Satan was sent to buffer him, lest he should be exalted above measure. I thank God that His grace was sufficient to see Paul through this illness and He will see us through this illness as well.
#When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; but 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 wills. And he sailed from Ephesus. Acts 18:20,21
We believe the feast that Paul was obliged to keep was the Pentecost. Paul wanted every opportunity to instruct the Jews and preach the gospel so that he could free them from the prejudices they had imbibed toward him. So he bade them farewell, but I will return again unto you. We must always say if God wills, for it is the will of God that all men be saved. So God did allow him to return in Acts 19:1 What a blessing it is to do the will of God and have the Spirit of God encourage us along the way. As Jesus told His disciple before His ascension I will send the comforter who will be in you and upon you. So tarry ye in Jerusalem and so it was that ten days after His ascension the Holy Spirit was given, and this is why Pentecost the feast is so important to keep. Pentecost means fifty days, so it was fifty days after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that Pentecost came. I pray that the Lord will inspire you to keep the feast as well and celebrate with your loved ones the Risen Savior and the power of the Holy Spirit.
#And 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. And he came to Ephesus and left them there but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. Acts 18:18,19
Paul continued there many days to confirm the brethren, we do not know how long, maybe a year and a half. So Aquila shaved his head according to (Num. 6:18) Then Paul sailed to Syria to go to Antioch, the mother church of the Gentiles. Vows are important and if we make a vow before God, then we must complete it, for God does not take pleasure in fools. Nazarite vows required the shaving of the head in Jerusalem and the hair was offered in the temple. So this is likely why this was done in Cenchrea, as it was the eastern harbor of Corinth, so this was a way to reach his own people with the gospel. We all remember Samson took the Nazarite vow to grow his hair and not shave it then he lost his power when he failed to keep his vow. Thank God that He is the God of the second chance and Samson prayed restore my power once so that I can get revenge upon these Philistines, for my eyes, and God answered his prayer. So Samson was restored in his death. Paul said to live is Christ and to die gain. So as we think about what we can offer to God, it is our bodies as a reasonable sacrifice holy and acceptable in the eyes of God. We do this by renewing our minds with the word of God.
#And 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. But if it is a question of words and names and of your law, look ye to it: for I will be no judge of such matters. Acts 18:14,15
So Gallio's rebuke of the Jews was as though Christianity and Judaism were a rivalry of sects. It to him was a competition of names and of the Jewish law. But he clearly did not know what he was talking about. So he drove them from the judgment seat. Then 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. Our prayers go out to the Judd family at the passing of their mother from mental illness. I pray that more people suffering from the ravishes of mental illness will seek the Lord for truly His grace is sufficient, and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
#And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, Acts 18:11,12
So we see how the vision of the Lord Jesus in the night encouraged Paul to continue there for a year and six months preaching the word of God. Then Paul remembered that many people would be in the city for the Lord. How we need to remember that promise from the Lord when trials and tribulations come upon us too. As this pandemic has gone on for almost three years and many are exhausted by mental illness. Nevertheless, we have come this far by faith trusting in the Lord, and leaning upon His holy word, as the great hymn of the church says. So when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made an insurrection with one accord against Paul bringing him to the judgment seat, Saying This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. This Gallio was the brother of the famous Seneca, those other writers had talked about. Does this show that if God is for us then who can be against us? As these heathen gods were but fables and a shadow of the true God that we serve. So this charge was a lie that the Jews attempted to show that Paul's gospel was contrary to Judaism. Yet Paul kept the faith and the Lord delivered him from all those false accusations. We thank God who always leads us into triumphant victories in the Lord Jesus Christ.
#Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have many people in this city. Acts 18:9,10
I praise God that sometimes He wakes us up in the night with a vision, just like He did to Paul. Be not afraid and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee. what a blessing and comfort this must have been to the apostle Paul, for we are tempted to be quiet to avoid conflict. So the Lord tells him I am with thee, just like He did in Galilee before His ascension into heaven. He said no man will hurt thee: for I have many people in this city. Praise God that He has seven thousand that have not bowed down to Baal as He told Elijah. So Paul prophetically calls them that believed. If God is for us who can be against us? So thank God for your visions in the night for it is how the Lord talks to us through His word. Thank God that Paul was faithful to this vision and two epistles were written to the Corinthians and churches were formed in Achaia, the province of Corinth which was the capital.
#And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized. Acts 18:8
Faith comes by hearing the word of God, and Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, heard the gospel from Paul then he, as well as all his house, believed in the Lord. So they were baptized by Paul (I Cor. 1:14) and many of the Corinthians hearing believed then they were baptized as well. So the Holy Spirit is using Paul to preach the gospel in Corinth, but many of the Jews of the synagogue were angry and persecuted Paul because of this. So what do we learn here? The fact that when the word of God is preached souls will be saved and this is the way the apostles turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ. We must do likewise, as we share the good news with our friends and neighbors, and when we do that many souls will be added to the Kingdom of God.
#And 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. Acts 18:6
Paul has done what the Lord said to do if you entered a house and they did not receive this gospel, to shake the dust off, as a testimony against them for the day of judgment. The Jews of that day had committed the sin of blasphemy so Paul shook his clothing and said I will from henceforth go to the Gentiles. He did not preach in the synagogue anymore and warned them that their blood was upon their heads and that he was innocent before God. We as ministers are watchmen and if we warn the wicked, and they perish, then we are not guilty of their blood. Today, many preachers are trying to pacify the wicked with positive sermons so that they will not get angry at them. This is why Paul said in the last days, they would not hear sound doctrine, but would heep to themselves teachers who would tickle their ears. We must not be afraid of their faces but speak the truth in love.
#And when Silas and Timotheus have come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. Acts 18:5
When the Holy Spirit presses us for other people to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we should seek the help of other Christians. This is what Silas and Timotheus were doing for Paul as he was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. The revised version reads "was constrained by the word" Paul had sent Timotheus to the church in Thessonalica to minister to the needs of the saints, and Silas was at Berea ministering to the saints there. So when they came to Corinth to help Paul he was encouraged by their presence, so he could earnestly do the work of the Lord. So I encourage you brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same for your family members as you pray for their souls to accept Jesus as the Christ.
#And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Acts 18:3,4
It was the custom of the Jews to have their children learn a trade, so Paul learned how to be a tentmaker as a young boy and used it to make a living as a vocational apostle. As was the custom to reason in the synagogue every sabbath, and he persuaded the Jews and the Greeks in the scriptures. Some of the Jews would ultimately rebel against the teaching of Christ being the Messiah and this would cause Paul to have to make a decision on whether to keep preaching in the synagogue. As Paul taught all that shall live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So Silas and Timotheus would help Paul in the ministry to overcome the pressure of preaching.
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