The Way
Do Not Be Afraid; Keep Speaking
I am with you
Story
Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia. Timothy brought good news: the church in Thessalonica was holding on to faith and love even in suffering. Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, sent that church a letter. Paul wrote, “Now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.” A little later he sent them a second letter, because they were shaken about the day the Lord would come again.
In the synagogue in Corinth, the opposition was fierce. Paul shook out his clothes in protest and said he would now go to the Gentiles. He moved to the house of a man named Titius Justus, right next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with his whole household, and many Corinthians were baptized. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. I am with you.”
Paul stayed a year and a half, teaching the word. When Gallio, sent by Rome, was governor of Achaia, the Jews dragged Paul into court. Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “This is a question about words and names and your own law. Settle it yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” Just as the Lord had promised to be with him, no one was able to harm Paul.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of the Lord and of Paul
Do not be afraid. Do not be silent; keep on speaking. I am with you, and no one will harm you, for I have many people in this city.
Now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.
Do not be easily shaken or alarmed by talk that the day of the Lord has already come.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Acts 18:5–18
Background
An inscription found at Delphi gives the time when Gallio was governor of Achaia. This lets us date Paul's stay in Corinth to about AD 51. It is the most important fixed point for working out the dates of Paul's life.
Pause and Reflect
Where fear keeps me silent, do I trust that the Lord is with me?