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"Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, 'Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent.'"
(Acts 18:9)
This week, I am writing on the topic of fear. We are studying how God blessed and encouraged the Apostle Paul, taking him from being fearful to courageous in his ministry at Corinth. Another way God blessed and gave courage to Paul was by allowing him to see new followers of Christ from his ministry.
I love Acts 18:8: "Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized." Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord (pisteuo) and so did his entire household. This took great faith on this man's part. He surely realized that by trusting in Christ he would be blessed on the one hand and hated and cursed on the other. I love how God saves all who believe and influences many for Christ. I am reminded of how God saved Kurt Warner, Hall of Fame quarterback and Super Bowl MVP. His story and his wife Brenda's are portrayed in the movie, American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story, which I highly recommend.
I believe that Crispus' conversion sparked a great interest in many of the Corinthians, and they too heard, (akouo), believed (pisteuo), and were baptized (baptizo). This was a grand day for the kingdom of God as He saved people from this immoral city and a church was birthed. No human being was more pleased with this than the Apostle Paul. Nothing brings more joy to a preacher of the Gospel than to see people genuinely saved, baptized, and integrated into the church of Jesus Christ.
In Acts 18:9, Jesus expressly commands Paul to not fear. Perhaps his fear stemmed from past experiences. He knew how violent the unbelieving Jews could be, as he only had to reflect upon what happened to him in Lystra in Acts 14:19, where they beat him unconscious and left him for dead. Based on past experiences in other cities, Paul knew that whenever God moves in wonderful ways, the Devil creates a stir. Paul was likely thinking, "This is when I get beat up, run out of the city, or worse!"
I know I would have done the same thing—I would have begun to worry about something that had not happened and would not happen. I heard a preacher say one time that 92% of what we worry about never happens. Reminds me of what a Methodist circuit rider preacher told President Abraham Lincoln as the two men met at a log tavern while Lincoln was a lawyer traveling from town to town. Lincoln and others were worried about a dangerous and swollen river called Fox River. They asked the preacher about it, and he admitted that he had crossed it many times, but then he told them he had one fixed rule when it came to Fox River: I never cross it til I reach it (Hughes, The Church Afire, p. 241).
So, you can imagine my excitement when I came to Acts 18:9, when Jesus told His servant Paul to stop being afraid. My prayer today is that the Lord would speak to your restless soul and to my soul, and He would impart His words of courage and faith.
There are many biblical texts that speak to us about not being afraid. Here is one of my favorites, when Moses spoke to Israel in Deuteronomy 31:6: "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." Allow the Holy Spirit to speak directly to your heart these wonderful words of comfort and confidence.
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