(1) “AFTER these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. (2) And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them; (3) and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers. (4) And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. (5) “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the Word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. (6) And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean; from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. (7) And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. (8) And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. (9) And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace; (10) for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city. (11) And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the Word of God among them.”
Golden Text.—“Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” I Cor. 3:11.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) After the occurrences related in our last lesson, where did Paul go? Verse 1. Note 1. (2) Whom did Paul find there? From what place had they come? Why had they left Rome? Verse 2. (3) What induced Paul to take up his abode with them? What was their occupation? Did Paul work at it? Verse 3. Note 2. (4) How did Paul improve his time on the Sabbath day? What day of the week was this? Verse 4. Note 3. (5) What recruits reached Paul at this place? How did their presence affect Paul’s work? Verse 5. (6) How did some of his hearers receive his teachings? What did Paul say concerning the work he had done for them? What important declaration did he then make? Verse 6. Note 4. (7) What did he then do? What is said of this man and his house? Verse 7. (8) What important person accepted the teachings of Paul? What other accessions were there to the faith at this time? Verse 8. (9) What encouragement and command did Paul receive at this time? Verse 9. (10) What help did the Lord promise Paul? Why would the Lord allow no harm to come to him? Verse 10. Note 5. (11) How long did Paul continue in this work? Verse 11.
NOTES.
1. “Came to Corinth.”—The political capital of Greece, the metropolis of commerce, situated on the isthmus which connects the two portions of Greece, and containing a population of about 400,000. It was a strategic center for the spread of the Gospel because of the variety of its population as well as its size. It was an exceedingly wicked city, and so stood in great need of the Gospel.
2. “And they wrought.”—The Authorized Version has it, “he abode with them and wrought.” The idea is that Paul labored with them in the work of tent-making. His purpose in this, as he tells them in his second epistle to the Corinthians, was that he might not be chargeable to them. See 2 Cor. 11:9. That it was Paul’s purpose not to burden any for his support is shown in 1 Thess. 2:9 and 2 Thess. 3:8. He had no mission board to look to for his support, and yet he did receive, from time to time, contributions from the believers to assist him in his work.
3. “In the synagogue every Sabbath.”—Paul was a keeper of the true Sabbath. After laboring at his occupation all the week, on the seventh day, God’s own Sabbath day, he rested from his physical labors, and resorted to the house of worship. That it was the Sabbath of the commandment, the seventh day, on which Paul was preaching to these Corinthians is shown by the facts that he associated himself with a Sabbath-keeper, and that the preaching was done in the synagogue, which was open for regular worship only on that day. There is a similar but more specific record upon this point in Acts 13:15, 16, 42, 44. It is there explicitly stated that the day on which Paul preached in the Jewish synagogue was the Sabbath day, the day which the Jews regarded as the Sabbath. Thus the charge that the Sabbath was changed in the days of the disciples is proved untrue. Paul even goes so far as to state that he had done nothing contrary to the customs of the Jewish fathers. Acts 28:17. He could not have said that had he been keeping Sunday.
4. “I will go unto the Gentiles.”—Paul had labored for his people through great privations, persecutions, and dangers, and still they openly rejected God’s last urgent appeal to them. He could do no more. That he considered he had done his duty by them is shown in his refusing to hold himself responsible for their eternal loss. He did consider himself responsible until he had done his duty in warning and urgent invitation. God will strive with men as long as there is any hope, and when there is hope no longer, He will cut them off. It is exceedingly dangerous to refuse to follow the light of God.
5. God would not allow His work to be frustrated by having harm come to Paul while yet there were many honest souls in Corinth unwarned. It is this that saves many of God’s missionaries to-day from destruction at the hand of Satan and his human agents. He has “much people” yet in this world. He will not allow Satan to prevent their being warned by destroying those who carry the warning. His declaration to Paul, “I am with thee,” was the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise to His followers; “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”
