ACTS CHAPTER 18:1-18, “Preaching Christ And Him Crucified In Corinth”

Jim Bomkamp

1. INTRO:

1.1. In our last study, we saw how the church was planted in the city of Athens

1.1.1. This city was a bastion of Greek culture, and it had over 30,000 gods which people worshipped

1.1.2. Paul was left alone in the city after being run out of Berea, and as he waited upon his companions to join him there, his spirit was vexed within him as he saw that the people were so religious in every way and yet so blind to the truth that leads to salvation

1.1.3. Paul preached Christ prophesied from the Old Testament scriptures there in the synagogue to the Jews and proselytes, and then he preached Christ to whoever would be present in the market place

1.1.4. The people took Paul to the Aeropagite on Mars Hill so that they could here his teaching concerning the resurrection of Christ, and he preached to them about the ‘Unknown God’ whose statute they had created just in case there was a god that they had forgotten to include among all of their shrines

1.1.5. We saw how that the resurrection of Christ overturns all other philosophies and religions

1.2. In our study today, we will see how that the church in Corinth was planted

1.2.1. In our study we will see that a tremendous work was begun by Paul in Corinth as many souls were saved rapidly through the preaching of the gospel

1.2.2. For the first time in the book of Acts, we see that Paul intentionally spent a good deal of time in one city (Corinth) seeing that a church was well established

1.2.3. When we think of problem churches in the early church era, the church in Corinth is probably the first to come to most of our minds, and this is because in spite of the amount of time that Paul spent with the church in Corinth seeing that it became well established, the people who came to Christ in Corinth tended to come with much moral corruption and subsequent baggage in their lives, and thus they were slow to gain victory over the struggles they fought against their own fleshly desires

1.2.3.1.Paul’s epistles to the church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians in particular, was a corrective epistle as Paul sought to deal with many things that were amiss within the church

1.2.3.2.Paul even came back at a later time to the church in Corinth and spent the winter there (1 Cor. 16:5-8; Acts 20:2-3)

1.2.4. In order for us to understand what Paul was dealing with in seeing this church in Corinth become well-founded, I will be drawing much from Paul’s epistles to the Corinthian church

1.2.5. We will also see this second missionary journey come to an end

1.2.6. America today is not far behind Corinth in moral corruption

2. VS 18:1 - “18:1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth.” - Paul and his companions traveled to Corinth

2.1. During the time of this missionary journey, Corinth was the fourth largest city in the world, behind Rome, Antioch of Syria, and Alexandria. Today it is a relatively small city. The present day country of Greece is divided into north and south as the country is divided in half by the sea. However, there is a large isthmus that connects the north with the south. It is on this isthmus that the city of Corinth is located. It is located on the southern tip of Greece, and just fifty miles west of Athens. One could travel to Corinth from Athens in a day, either by land or by sea.

2.1.1. Navigation around the land of present day Greece was dangerous in those days and yet there was much commerce between the northern part of present day Greece and the southern part. Therefore, most commerce went by land between the north part and the south, right through the city of Corinth. Often ships would even be transported across the isthmus rather than run the risk of a maritime accident.

2.1.2. Because of the constant flow of people and commerce through the city, Corinth became a very large and wealthy city. The city became populated with people from all parts of the world, so it was also an ethnic melting pot.

2.1.3. There were many religions represented by the varieties of people in Corinth. The culture of the city was heavily influenced by the Romans as well as the Greeks, and every other nation. There were also a large number of Jews that lived in the city.

2.1.4. The city was known for corruption, as 1,000 prostitutes worked in the temples and streets, and drunkenness was a common sight. In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul lists some the city’s characteristic sins: fornication, idolatry, adultery, effeminacy, homosexuality, stealing, covetousness, drunkenness, reviling, and swindling (1 Cor. 6:9-10).

2.1.4.1.The city had such a reputation all over the world, that to be called a “Corinthian” meant to be a fornicator and a drunkard.

2.1.5. The combination of wealth, moral corruption, and ethnic diversity caused the city to be open to the gospel, as many were suffering the consequences of a debauched lifestyle. It also caused much corruption to enter into the church once the gospel began to be preached by Paul.

2.2. To give you perhaps a better idea of the struggles that the church faced in Corinth, many years after the events recorded here in Acts, Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians in order to deal primarily with a situation within the church that was being dealt with in a particularly poor way. The situation was that of a man who was living in sin with his own mother-in-law, while the church more than tolerated the situation, they seemed to think of themselves as being very broadminded and gracious by tolerating this open display of willful sin in their midst. So, Paul wanted to write his letter to deal with how they should handle this situation, however when considering writing the letter he knew that there were many other issues which had to be addressed by a letter, such as:

2.2.1. divisions that were present in the church (with some claiming to be ‘of Paul’, others ‘of Cephas’, and others ‘of Christ’)

2.2.2. brother taking brother to court with lawsuits

2.2.3. instructions and a warning concerning the Lord’s Supper (people in the church were actually getting drunk on the wine during their celebration of the Lord’s Supper)

2.2.4. abuses of the use of spiritual gifts in their worship

2.2.5. eating food which had been sacrificed to idols and thereby causing your brother to stumble

2.2.6. matters concerning marriage and divorce

2.2.7. confusion concerning the role of women within the church

2.2.8. the primacy of agape love amongst brothers and sisters

2.2.9. the fact of Christ’s resurrection (as some were saying there was no resurrection).

2.3. In many ways it could be said that the problems that the church was having were because it was a group whom God was using to reach out and touch people’s lives in a powerful way, the only problem was that because of the moral baggage with which people entered the kingdom added to the many temptations of normal day life in Corinth, caused the church to have many problems, and Paul was concerned the church remain a pure bride of Christ without spot or blemish.

2.3.1. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 1:7 that the Corinthians did not lack any spiritual gift, so we know that God was working in a powerful way. The only problem was that because the people were still so much living in their self-life and flesh, they were constantly abusing the gifts of the Spirit.

2.3.2. The church in Corinth were associating with so called believers who were arrogantly and openly living in serious sin, whom they should have been disfellowshipped, and, then they were dissociating with non-believers to whom they should have been witnessing and reaching out to.

2.4. If as a Christian your light is to shine it’s brightest, it will be when you are placed in the darkest of places. I think that Paul realized this principle, and thus he saw that the potential for the light of Christ to shine brightly in Corinth, a city which was so dark in it’s idolatrous paganism and fleshly indulgence of pleasure, and this led him to be willing to spend so much time there with the church in Corinth.

2.4.1. Note that a tremendous revival began in that city, albeit there were many people who came to salvation yet struggled mightily with the lusts of their flesh.

2.4.2. We as Christians should not be afraid to step into a dark place and be a witness for Christ, if we feel that He is leading us to go there.

2.4.2.1.If we don’t have that assurance that He is leading us to such a dark place, it is foolishness to go there of our own will.

2.4.3. I have noticed that a lot of Bible commentators are quick to criticize the church that was planted in Corinth because of the problems which Paul sought in his epistles to correct, however I have been surprised that the commentators have not also realized that one of the reasons why there were so many problems in the church was because God was working in such a mighty way in bringing people to Christ that the church was filled with the fruit of the church’s evangelism, ‘baby Christians’.

2.4.3.1.Sadly, I have seen some churches today which didn’t want to reach certain types of people for Christ because they were afraid of their reputation in the community, and of being associated with certain types of people.

2.4.3.1.1.Coming to Christ in the early 70’s from the hippie generation there were many churches that despised us young people in that day who were coming to Christ, and they didn’t want us in their churches because of how we dressed, looked, or how clean we were.

2.4.3.2.There are many parts of our cities where a church can go and be fruitful in winning people to Christ just because our light will shine so brightly there. Opportunities abound for evangelism in some areas.

2.4.3.2.1.For instance, I know men who go around to some of the apartment complexes in the inner city and lower income areas of Phoenix and do things like simply hand out grilled hot dogs and hot chocolate to the people they see, and as they do, they share the gospel and invite people to church, and there is always fruit from these ministries.

3. VS 18:2-3 - “2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers.” - Paul found a Jewish couple named Priscilla and Aquila who had just moved to Corinth from Rome

3.1. Aquila and Priscilla are introduced here in this chapter at the end of Paul’s second missionary journey. They are Jews who had been forced to leave Rome, and they ended up in Corinth. We do not know if they had become Christians before they came to Corinth, or whether they were saved under Paul’s preaching.

3.2. Priscilla and Aquila go on to become invaluable ministry partners with Paul.

3.2.1. After ministering with Paul in Corinth for about a year and a half, Aquila and Priscilla leave with Paul and continue on with him in the ministry for a good amount of time.

3.2.2. Later they hosted a church in their home in Rome and Paul says that they even risked their lives for him: Rom. 16:3-5, “3 Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles; 5 also greet the church that is in their house”.

3.2.3. Aquila and Priscilla assisted Paul in Ephesus (Acts 18:18-28) where they also hosted a church in their home (1 Cor. 16:19).

3.3. Ministry partners to pastors and missionaries are invaluable in the work of the church. Pastors and missionaries never have too many people who are willing to help out with the work of the church.

3.4. Aquila and Priscilla became ministry partners with Paul, but they also worked with leather in tent making as did Paul, so that their mutual business with Paul helped to fund their missionary works.

3.4.1. Paul was very careful not to allow anyone to accuse him of being in the ministry for profit, and thus in most cases he even refused to receive support from the churches who wanted to give it to him.

3.4.2. Paul even supported other workers in the ministry through the wages he earned at tent making.

3.4.3. In the church today, we need ministers and leaders with the heart of the apostle Paul, who are willing if God wills it to work in the ministry and provide for their own support. This is so key to the planting of churches in many areas where a pioneering mission work must be begun, yet there is not the ability to pay a salary for the worker.

3.4.3.1.Many in fulltime ministry in the church today would leave the ministry if they were not paid, and some would leave if they did not make hefty or lavish salaries for their work.

4. VS 18:4 - “4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.” - As was his habit, Paul first went to the synagogue and preached to the Jews and Greeks each Sabbath

4.1. In Corinth there was a very large Jewish population at this time, and thus there were many Jews in the city whom Paul could preach to.

4.2. After going to Athens and reasoning with the philosophers, Paul describes in 1 Cor. 2:1-5 how that in his ministry in Corinth, he did not stray from teaching and preaching the simplicity of the gospel of Christ: “2:1 And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God”.

4.2.1. The Greeks were into philosophy and wisdom and the Jews wanted a sign, but wisely Paul preached the simplicity of the gospel message in Christ Jesus.

4.2.2. Sometimes when preachers preach or write, it seems that you need to find a Greek scholar in order to understand what they are talking about, however we in the church need to learn from Paul to simply preach the simplicity of the gospel of Christ to non-believers.

5. VS 18:5 - “5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.” - Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth and helped him to concentrate completely on preaching the gospel

5.1. When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia (17:14-15; 18:5), they brought financial aid from the church (2 Cor. 11:9) which then enabled Paul not to have to work, so then he dedicated himself full-time to the study of the word and preaching of the gospel.

6. VS 18:6 - “6 And when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads! I am clean. From now on I shall go to the Gentiles.””- The Jews and proselytes resisted the gospel and even ‘blasphemed’, so Paul told them that he would now preach to the Gentiles

6.1. In Ezek. 3:17-21 and 33:1-9, God exhorted Ezekiel, whom He called His “watchman”.

6.1.1. “Watchmen” were the ones who watched upon the city walls for those who would attack the city. They were to watch in order to warn God’s people when attackers would come. If the “watchmen” warned the people when danger approached, then the blood of the people was on their own hands, since they had been warned of the danger. However, if the “watchmen” did not warn God’s people, and attackers came, then ‘blood’ was on the hands of the unfaithful “watchmen”.

6.1.2. In the same way, God told Ezekiel that he was a “spiritual watchman” who was to warn the people if they had sin in their life which God was going to judge. If the people heard the message, then whatever they did with it was their own responsibility, but if he did not proclaim the warning, then he had the people’s ‘blood’ on his own hands.

6.1.3. Likewise, Paul saw himself as God’s watchman, and he knew that he had the responsibility to tell all who would listen, that Jesus Christ had died for the sins of men and risen from the dead as Lord and Master, and that if a person repented and received Him as their Lord and savior they could be saved from God’s day of judgment and wrath.

6.2. All Christians must see themselves as God’s faithful “watchmen”, and they must commit themselves to delivering the gospel message to the lost so that they have the opportunity to hear the word and be saved.

6.2.1. People cannot believe unless they first hear the gospel, as Paul wrote in Romans, so we Christians will have the ‘blood’ of the lost on our hands if we do not tell them the good news of the gospel and warn them of the coming day of judgment and wrath of God.

7. VS 18:7-8 - “7 And he departed from there and went to the house of a certain man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 And Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. ” - Paul went to the house of Titius Justus who was the leader of the synagogue and who had come to faith in Christ

7.1. The Lord goes before the one who plants a church, and these verses relate how that the Lord had prepared the way for the church to be planted there in Corinth.

7.1.1. Luke records that Paul went and lived in the house of Titius Justus, a ‘worshiper of God’ (or a Gentile “proselyte”), who lived right next door to the synagogue, and from there they had their meetings.

7.1.2. This meeting place was very convenient, since they could talk with all who passed by on their way to and from the synagogue, and invite them to come in and hear the gospel preached.

7.1.3. However, this distance also brought an element of fear for Paul since he was in such close proximity to the Jewish leaders of the synagogue, who were sure to issue a persecution against him. We know that Paul was fearful because of the Lord’s encouragement of him which follows and in which He tells him not to “be afraid”.

7.1.4. Luke also records that because ‘Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household’, the testimony of the church there was even greater among the Jews, and as a result ‘many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized’.

8. VS 18:9-10 - “9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”” - The Lord told Paul through a vision at night not to be afraid for his life for the Lord would protect him from harm

8.1. As He did with Paul here, so many times in scripture, the Lord encourages his servants not to be afraid. In the same way the Lord encouraged Paul, He also encouraged these men and women of the Bible:

8.1.1. Abraham:

8.1.1.1.Gen. 15:1, “15:1 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.””

8.1.2. Isaac:

8.1.2.1.Gen. 26:24, “24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said,“I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.””

8.1.3. Jacob:

8.1.3.1.Gen. 46:3, “3 And He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there.””

8.1.4. Jehoshaphat:

8.1.4.1.2 Chron. 20:15-17, “15 and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. 16 ‘Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the valley in front of the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 ‘You need not fight in this battle; station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out to face them, for the Lord is with you.””

8.1.5. Daniel:

8.1.5.1.Dan. 10:12,19, “12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 19 And he said, “O man of high esteem, do not be afraid. Peace be with you; take courage and be courageous!” Now as soon as he spoke to me, I received strength and said, “May my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.””

8.1.6. Mary:

8.1.6.1.Luke 1:30, “30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.””

8.2. In the vision, the Lord dealt with Paul’s fears by telling him to ‘go on speaking and do not be silent’.

8.2.1. The Lord does not tell someone to not be afraid unless they are afraid, so Paul must have been afraid for his life at this time.

8.2.2. Paul must have been tempted to quit preaching the gospel for fear of persecution.

8.2.3. The Lord told Paul not to fear because He would be with him, and that no man would be able to attack or harm him.

8.2.4. The reason given by the Lord for His protecting Paul in this way and working through his life was that there were many in the city who were God’s people. The Lord said this because of his foreknowledge of the end from the beginning of all that happens, because as yet this multitude referred to had not become Christians.

8.2.5. As we read the rest of this chapter we see that Paul was not harmed in any way by persecutors, although toward the end of his stay some Jews unsuccessfully took him before the authorities to try to get some charges pressed against him for his preaching.

8.2.6. Paul must have had many pressures upon his life at this time, the cumulative effect of which was that he was feeling very fearful.

8.2.6.1.Paul feared persecution from the Jews, especially since he had constantly experienced persecution at their hands.

8.2.6.2.He probably was fearful of the tremendous pull of the worldliness of that ungodly city.

8.2.6.3.He knew also that so many had now come into the church who formerly had lived a horrid lifestyle, that he probably was unsure that the Lord could actually keep the church a “pure bride” that would honor the Lord. Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 6:9-11, “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God”.

8.2.7. Sometimes a Christian can become depressed and lose his faith and confidence in God after great success in ministry, as did Elijah when he feared for his life at the hands of Jezebel, after he had such a great victory on Mount Carmel. We Christians need to learn to look to the Lord for our help in the midst of our troubles, and look no farther. It is the Lord alone who can be our help to us to get through our difficulties.

8.2.7.1.We humans were made to depend upon the Lord, and we do not do very well apart from the Lord. We were created such that we need to lean upon Him for our strength, and to look to Him for wisdom and guidance, and to depend not upon our own strength, but upon His instead. That is why Paul wrote what he wrote concerning making sure that we put on the full armor of God. Paul wrote in Eph. 6:10 , “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might”.

8.2.7.2.We Christians need to realize that for us it is true also that ‘the Lord is with us’, and thus we should not be fearful of what will happen to us if we follow God’s leading in our lives, whatever it may be.

8.2.7.2.1.We need to think about that time when Elijah was fearful and the Lord showed him all of the armies of God in the spiritual realm which were encamped around him, and realize that it is true of us in our life today.

8.3. Paul only left a city when the Lord had accomplished through his life what He wanted to accomplish. Paul never gave up because the opposition he was experiencing was great, and neither should we give up without accomplishing what God wants to accomplish through our lives at any time or in any ministry.

8.3.1. I love the words of Job in Job 13:15 when deep in the midst of his horrible suffer he hung in there with the Lord and said, “15Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…”

9. VS 18:11 - “11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” - Paul stayed there in the city of Corinth for a year and a half teaching God’s Word to them

9.1. In all of the previous cities which Paul had visited and planted churches, he had left the city when he was run out, however in Corinth he left when the work was done and the Lord said it was time.

9.2. Because of the fruitfulness of the ministry and the Lord protecting him, he spent 1 1/2 years building up the church in Corinth.

10. VS 18:12-16 - “12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13 saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; 15 but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.” - Finally, the Jews arrested Paul and brought him before Gallio, proconsul of Achaia, and accused him of persuading men to worship God contrary to the Law of the Jews

10.1. Secular history records that this man Gallio was a very kind and gentle man, and that he had no major faults in his character. The Lord foreordained that this man would be ‘proconsul of Achaia’, and the Lord used him to keep Paul from being persecuted.

10.2. Gallio refused to hear the complaint that the Jews brought up against Paul, since he wisely saw that there were no charges involving violation of the Grecian law, or of right or wrong, for which he was being accused, rather it was just a disagreement concerning interpretation of the Jewish religion and law.

10.3. Gallio drove them away from his ‘judgment seat’, and thus Paul was kept from being persecuted by the Jews in Corinth.

10.4. We Christians need to realize that when we let the Lord lead us in our lives, that He goes before us and places people over our lives at every intersection. The parents we have, the boss we have, the mayor of our city, the president of our country, etc., all have been placed there by the Lord for some purpose which we may not know at the present time.

11. VS 18:17 - “17 And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.” - The Jews took Sosthenes, the current leader of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of Gallio

11.1. The Greeks who were witnessing this scene before the judgment seat took a hold of ‘Sosthenes’, the current leader of the synagogue (Crispus, the previous synagogue leader had converted to Christianity), and using this opportunity to show their hatred of the Jews, began to beat this leader of the synagogue.

11.2. Gallio was indifferent to the commotion, or to what was happening to Sosthenes, since this was not a matter to which he felt he should have jurisdiction. This was a matter between the people themselves.

12. VS 18:18 - “18 And Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.” – After many days, Paul traveled with Priscilla and Aquila to Syria

12.1. Aquila and Priscilla left with Paul, as he went to Syria, intending to be of use to him in all of his subsequent missionary journeying.

12.2. It is assumed that Paul was led by the Spirit to leave this work in Corinth, as the Lord had assured him that his work had been finished now.

12.3. We do not know why Paul had made this vow mentioned in verse 18. People have speculated that Paul had made a Nazarite vow either before becoming a Christian, or afterwards. This vow appears to have been made with a stated duration, during which time he was not to drink any strong liquor or shave his hair, as was required for a Nazarite vow. Now the time had expired for which the vow applied, and he could shave his head again.

12.4. Normally in the Jewish custom, when one completed his Nazarite vow, he went to Jerusalem and completed a ceremony, however there is no record in scripture that Paul actually ever went to Jerusalem in order to complete this ceremony.

13. VS 18:19-21 - “19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 And when they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, 21 but taking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus.” - Paul and his companions traveled to Athens

13.1. Paul chose to leave Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus, as he wanted to go by himself into the synagogue there and reason with the Jews concerning Jesus Christ.

13.2. The Jews wanted him to stay for a little while longer, however he told them that he would return to them if it was the Lord’s will for him to return.

14. VS 18:22 - “22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.” - Paul came back home to Antioch of Syria his home base

14.1. Here we come to the end of the second missionary journey, as Paul and his traveling companions come back to Antioch of Syria, from where they began.

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