Acts 18:1-17

 Acts 18:1-17

We have a picture in our minds of Paul the great missionary crisscrossing Palestine, Asia Minor, and southern Europe with his hair on fire for the gospel, ministering without hesitation or encumbrances. Often that picture keeps us on the sideline of ministry. We feel like we lack the bold swagger of Paul and can’t get in the game. The problem is that the picture is false.

After arriving in Corinth, Sin City of the first century, Paul begins one of his most prolific and largest churches, which was also the most troubled and dysfunctional. As the church grew, opposition began to develop. This is always the case! Peaceful churches and ministries are almost always stagnant and without evangelistic disciple-making effect. We see something important and easy to overlook in verse 9. In the midst of this growing ministry, the Lord appears to Paul and says, “…do not be afraid any longer.”. (NASB) Literally translated Jesus says in a bit of a rebuke to Paul, “Stop being afraid “. The grammar is clear: Paul was afraid already, so much so that it was shaping his ministry. The contrast and grammar of the next phrase indicates that Paul had begun to curtail his preaching because he was afraid of what might happen. Paul had good reason to be afraid. Looking back over the last several chapters, we see Paul beaten, stoned, abused, and nearly killed. There was a recognizable pattern that had so far ended badly physically for Paul, and he was afraid history would repeat itself.

Faced with fear, what can we do? We can try to say that we are always going to be protected. But that is not what the Lord said to Paul. Ultimately Paul was killed for his faith. There was in Corinth a season of protection, but that was not a lifelong promise of continued peaceful ministry. Instead we should take the advice of one Christian who said, “I desire to have a faith that causes a fear of God so rich that I will never fear any man or circumstance.” We will have fluctuations of fear and faith, but we are to grow in the one that can cause fear of God and not a fear of man so that our moments of earthly fear become more and more rare.