Acts 18:18-23

                                                                 Acts 18:18-23

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

 

As Paul leaves Corinth after a long and fruitful ministry, he begins his return trip back towards his sending church in Antioch.  However, he does not travel by himself.  It is interesting to see the way Paul’s partnerships formed and how they were used to enhance his ministry in so many ways.  There are aspects of fulfilling the mission of God that we don’t often consider.  These requirements are very evident in this passage and should be instructive to us.

 

THE MISSION REQUIRES MOBILITY: For the Gospel to advance to new places, those who know the Gospel must go to those places.  This requires that those who are involved in the mission of advancing the Gospel be mobile.  Paul leaves Corinth, a place he has had great freedom to minister without persecution.  However, he is convinced the church there can move forward without him, so he leaves and invites his new partners in ministry, Aquila and Priscilla, to travel with him.  This couple had just recently moved from Rome to Corinth due to persecution and now they were moving again to advance the Gospel with Paul.  We all like to establish roots and it is comfortable for us to stay in one place.  However, the advance of the Gospel must be more important to us than our own comfort and stability.  We must always be willing to move if that move would serve to advance the Gospel more effectively.

 

THE MISSION REQUIRES FELEXIBILITY: It is hard to know what the plan was when Paul and his traveling companions left Corinth.  Earlier, when this second missionary journey started, Paul had been prohibited from taking the Gospel to Asia minor.  However, on his journey back to Jerusalem and Antioch, he makes a brief stopover in Ephesus, the main port city of the region.  After speaking in the synagogue several times, he was asked to stay longer.  He refused this request but promised to return.  However, he decided to leave Aquila and Pricilla in that city and left them there.  We don’t know why he left them there other than to prepare the groundwork for his return.  Presumably, they thought they would be traveling with Paul, but they were flexible enough to do what needed to be done for the advance of the Gospel.  Plans often change with very little notice.  Ministers of the Gospel must be ready to make those changes as God makes them clear.

 

THE MISSION REQUIRES RESPONSIBILITY: It is hard for to imagine the Apostle Paul being responsible to another person.  However, it seems clear that despite his unbelievable effectiveness as a missionary, he still felt the need to return to both Jerusalem and Antioch to give a report on what God had been doing.  Paul understood that much of his success as a missionary was due to the prayers and support of his sending church.  He recognized that he was not some sort of “lone ranger” in the work of the Lord, but he was a part of the body of Christ.  He needed encouragement and refreshment, and the church also needed to be informed and motivated to continue the work that God had called them to do.  One part of the body is not more important than the other and there needs to be harmony and cooperation between all parts.  We all need people who are holding us accountable and giving us encouragement along the way.

 

APPLICATION:  Be ready to move whenever the Lord makes it clear that it is needed.  We can make plans but must not allow those plans to become inflexible.  Our comfort must never become a priority over the advance of the kingdom.  We are always under the authority of someone and in cooperation with the body of Christ.

 

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