Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city (Acts 18:9-10).
If you’re like me, it’s good to be reminded that the Apostle Paul was human, just like us.
I often picture Paul as some superhuman missionary trailblazer, unhindered by the normal emotions we all experience.
It seems that no matter what Paul endured – mockery, being run out of cities, beatings, imprisonments, etc. – he simply pressed forward unflinchingly.
But the reality is, Paul did experience the same emotions as us. He experienced anger, anxiety, despair, and even fear.
One such instance of Paul’s fear is recorded in Acts 18 during the time he was ministering in Corinth on his second missionary journey. He was typically so bold that it’s hard to picture him in a state of fear, but when he later wrote to the Corinthians, he said himself “… I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3).
His fear was such that it required a special vision from the Lord to calm and encourage him to finish his work at Corinth.
But the obvious question arises: Why was Paul fearful?
Prior to his vision, he had turned away from the hostile Jews.
He was now making headway with the Gentiles, seeing many come to know the Lord, with no obvious sign of trouble on the horizon.
It seems if anything, Paul would be overjoyed, but instead, he was fearful.
A number of things could have provoked that fear. In the same way that none of us desire to be mocked, beaten, imprisoned, and run out of town, Paul didn’t either.
However, those things had taken place in nearly every city Paul had visited on both missionary trips. Though things were going well at the moment, Paul could reasonably conclude that same pattern might be repeated.
As John Phillips said, "Everywhere he had been, so far, the Jews had fomented trouble against him. It could not be long before the same thing would happen at Corinth."
Such prospects would likely cause any of us to experience some trepidation, and though Paul was concerned about those things, his fear was rooted in something deeper than physical violence.
His primary fear was that his success with the Gentiles would anger the Jews, like it always did, which would cause the Jews to try to get rid of him, like they always did.
That would likely mean physical violence, but the bigger picture is that it would mean lost opportunities to spread the gospel in Corinth.
Paul’s primary fear was that the gospel would be hindered, and it was that fear that the Lord sought to calm in the vision.
Following are four truths about Paul’s vision that brought him great comfort and gave him the courage he needed to press on despite his fear.
1. The Vision Encouraged Peace
“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid …” (Acts 18:9).
Paul had become fearful because he knew what was coming.
It would be a repeat of Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea.
The Jews would stir up a riot, divide the people, turn them against him, perhaps beat or try to kill him, or at the least drive him out of town – all of which would hinder the spreading of the gospel.
Theirs was a predictable pattern, and Paul expected the same thing to happen at Corinth.
Do you know what Paul was doing here?
He was doing something we all do from time to time. He was borrowing trouble.
Though it was a reasonable concern, he was fearful about something that had not yet even become a problem, and for all he knew, might never be a problem.
How often do we do the same?
Today if you visit Thomas Carlyle’s famous home in London, they will show you an almost soundproof chamber that Carlyle had built so the noise of the street could be shut out and he could work in silence. One of his neighbors, however, kept a rooster that several times in the night and in the early morning gave way to vigorous self-expression. When Carlyle protested to the owner of the rooster, the man pointed out to him that the rooster crowed only three times in the night, and that after all could not be such a terrible annoyance. “But,” Carlyle said to him, “if you only knew what I suffer waiting for that rooster to crow!” (Clarence Macartney, Macartney’s Illustrations Nashville: Abingdon, 1945)
How many of us are prone to thinking about and waiting on the bad thing that could happen, while missing the good things around us that are happening?
That’s what Paul was doing at Corinth. He had become so fearful that his ministry would soon be upended that he decided to go silent for a while.
But the Lord visited him in a vision and told him to put those fears aside.
The Lord would have us cast aside our fears as well.
That doesn’t mean we ignore problems, nor does it mean we can’t have legitimate concerns over things that may arise in the future. What it does mean, however, is that we don’t allow those potential problems or threats to drive us to fear and paralyze us.
2. The Vision Commanded Proclamation
“Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace” (Acts 18:9).
Implied in the text is the fact that Paul was apparently contemplating just holding his peace for a while.
With so many Gentiles coming to the Lord, and the attention that would bring, perhaps Paul thought it would be a good idea to lay low and fly under the radar of the Jews so as to not provoke them.
Perhaps Paul even considered prematurely moving on from Corinth before the Jews could stir up trouble.
After all, that could save him and his ministry partners from having to perform dangerous escapes like they had before, or spare him from beating or imprisonment or other harms.
He was contemplating being silent.
The Lord forbid Paul from making that mistake.
We must speak up. As believers must not be silent.
For far too long in this nation, Christians have been content to worship inside the confines of our sanctuaries but have failed to make our voices heard in the public square.
We’ve allowed the leftists and progressives to run rough shod over us, to the degree that we’ve recently seen more Christians in this country fired over religious convictions and put in prison than any other time in our history.
Silent pulpits and silent parishioners have so weakened the church here that we’ve been racing swiftly toward losing our very freedom to preach the gospel without fear of government reprisal.
The Lord’s words to Paul in this vision apply to us today. Speak up. Do not be silent.
The battle for truth rages today, and if those of us who do possess it fail to speak up, how will those who need it most ever hear it?
(Editor's Note: To be continued...)
