Corinth

Gtcotr/ws110421 

Reputation is very important, especially when it comes needing people to trust you. This evening we are going to use the Apostle Paul to review the simple, time honored and well-proven priorities of life that help us build and maintain a good reputation. We will also discover how friends encourage friends.

The year is AD52. The Apostle Paul is 47 years old. It had been a very difficult year for him and no doubt he was tired and perhaps a bit lonely. Acts 16 and Acts 17 tell the story from Philippi to Athens. Paul had been stripped naked in public, unlawfully beaten, jailed, run out of town after town, attacked by angry mobs, verbally abused, lied about, and left alone. He was tired of talking in circles with philosophers who spent their time in nothing else but listening to the next new thing. Some scholars believe Paul needed a break.

Sometimes we need a break from before we have a break down on the way to our breakthrough.

I know some of you can relate. Perhaps Paul’s time in Athens had not been as productive as he hoped. At some point he decided to walk the 56-mile journey to the capital city of the region of Achaia. The city was Corinth.

Acts 18:1  After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

Corinth was one of the most populous and wealthy cities in all Greece. Lasciviousness was not only a welcomed practice in Corinth, but it was consecrated by the worship of the Roman goddess of love, desire, prosperity and fertility, the goddess Venus. (The Greek goddess Aphrodite)

Situated on an isthmus separating the Aegean and the Mediterranean seas, Corinth hosted the trade between east and west. People from every culture and custom, rite and religion, lived and enjoyed life in this luxurious metropolis. One of the most profitable schemes belonged to the temple of Venus. More than 1,000 temple prostitutes relieved the citizens, businessmen, and travelers of their wealth while the lust-filled sins of carnal man became the most traded commodity of the city. There was no carnal passion which could not be excited and accommodated at Corinth.  

2  And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them.

Paul’s custom was to enter a city and associate himself with the Jewish community of that city. This was common with Jewish travelers for several reasons. One is the hospitality factor prescribed by the Jewish laws and customs. A sojourner could always depend on a meal and a place to stay when traveling. As well, there was the benefit of a common language and that of a having someone who knew the city to serve as a personal guide and consult.

Paul also had a greater reason than just that of his personal comfort. Paul was a messenger of God sent to preach the Gospel to the Jew first. Even though he was tired and had suffered great persecution and abuse for his faith, nonetheless he soldiered on. Paul had been sent out by the Church at Antioch to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. Paul hoped his message would be a joyfully by the Jews in Corinth. After all, God’s children were taught to expect the Messiah to come and save them.

We know Aquila and his wife Pricilla were Jews, but we do not know if they were Believers in Jesus as Messiah at this point. If they were Believers, their conversion to Christ would have most likely been the result of the testimony and witness of Jewish converts who had been Born-Again on the day of Pentecost in the city streets of Jerusalem, who traveled back home either to Pontus, in Asia Minor, or to Rome … wherever Aquila may have first heard the Gospel.

The edict from Emperor Claudius to expel all Jews from Rome came in about the year AD49. It spread from the city of Rome and within the next two years most of Italy made it difficult for Jews to find jobs or run businesses successfully in that region. So, by the time Paul arrived at the city of Corinth in Greece, Aquila and Priscilla had recently come from Italy and started a business of their own in Corinth.

3  So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.

It is noteworthy that the scriptures do not give us a greater reason at this point that Paul joined himself to Aquila than the fact that Paul found some work to sustain his needs. Paul knew how to make tents. It was customary that owners of businesses provide housing for their employees as well. So, Paul stayed and worked with them.

How was Paul proficient in the trade of tentmaking? We know Paul was sent as a youngster, maybe 12 or 13 years old, to Jerusalem to finish his schooling and ultimately become a lawyer. He was evidently the son of a well-to-do family seeing his father was a citizen of Rome with the means to get Paul into the best school in the world. 

However, Jewish tradition, culture, and custom demanded a father teach some handicraft or trade to his child, without regard as to the position the father held or that which was expected for the child. This was done so that in times of unforeseen need, the individual would not become dependent of the charity of others.

Rabbi Judah says: "He that teacheth not his son a trade, doth the same as if he taught him to be a thief."

This was the Apostle Paul’s custom … to work and provide for himself when needed, so that he did not become a burden on others and especially he desired to present the Gospel to the lost without charge.

Acts 20:34  Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

Paul wished the lost and the saved to see his example and his willingness to work hard so that he could provide for himself and those with him.

2 Thessalonians 3

9  Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.

10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

There should be no laziness or unwillingness to labor and work hard to provide for the needs of the family and in order to promote the needs of the Church by those devoted to full-time ministry. These are not the only scriptures concerning this matter but suffice it to say that Paul had a healthy work ethic and counted it his primary responsibility to provide for himself and for those who depended on him.

Now, Acts 18 begins with Paul having arrived at a new place, Corinth, where he hopes to be accepted, respected, and productive in the Gospel. He finds it reasonable to get a job, make friends, and build a good reputation. It was from this place, as a laborer, Paul first began to attend the synagogue each Sabbath and attempted to reason and persuade those in attendance concerning the scriptures in the Old Testament.  

Let’s continue to read this account and learn a little about how Paul started his ministry in Corinth. What were his priorities? Remember, Paul was a bit tired and lonely. His companions in the Gospel were still in Thessalonica.

Acts 18

4  And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

5  When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul was revisited with the passion and zeal of the Holy Spirit and became animated and re-engaged in presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews who attended the synagogue in Corinth. These scriptures in this account teach us:

·        God always has something wonderful for us right after this.

o   After the last thing is over … good, bad, or indifferent …

·        If any will not work, they should not eat.

o   There is a difference between cannot and will not …

o   Sometimes the first thing we need to do is get a job …

·        Companions can encourage and help us get back on track with God.

o   Are you a good companion?