• The Witness in Corinth – Act 18:1-17
  • The city of Corinth
    • A political center – Capital of Achaia
    • A commercial center
    • A pagan center
      • The temple of Aphrodite, goddess of sex
      • The mystery religions
    • A wicked center
      • Prostitution in the religions
      • Homosexuality in the city
      • The problem of drunkenness
  • Paul’s new friends – Act 18:1-4
    • Aquila and Priscilla
      • They were Jewish
      • They had to leave Rome due to anti-Semitism under Claudius
    • They were tentmakers
      • They were faithful workers
      • They helped the Apostle Paul
  • The ministry of Paul – Act 18:4-11
    • In the Synagogue
      • He reasoned with them
      • He persuaded them
      • He appealed to mind and to will
    • The arrival of Silas and Timothy
    • The stubborn resistance of the Jews – Act 18:6
    • The turning to the Gentiles – Act 18:6
    • The new converts – Act 18:7-8
      • They heard
      • They believed
      • They were baptized
    • The new encouragement – Act 18:9-10
      • The promised presence
      • The promised protection
      • The promised people
        • The sovereignty of God in salvation
        • The sovereign election - “I have many people in this city”
    • The response to the Lord – Act 18:11
      • Paul continued preaching
      • He stayed a year and a half
  • The attempt to silence the witness – Act 18:12-17
    • The occasion – Act 18:12 - A new pro-consul came to Corinth
    • The accusation – Act 18:13 - That Paul persuaded men to worship God contrary to the Law
    • The failure of their attack – Act 18:14-16
      • Gallio threw the case out of court
      • He ruled that it was a Jewish religious matter and not a Roman concern
    • The rage of the Jews - they beat their own leader, Sosthenes
• Observations and Applications
  • Paul wrote his first epistles from Corinth - 1 and 2 Thessalonians
  • The decision of Gallio gave freedom to preach the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire without being charged with breaking the Roman law
  • Sosthenes became a believer – 1Co 1:1
  • From Athens to Corinth, from intellectual pride to sensual lust
  • The message proclaimed – 1Co 2:1-5
  • The church in Corinth

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