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What God Hath Wrought
Jerusalem, Jerusalem !

And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. – Acts of the Apostles 21:17 ASV

That’s it, really – the end of a THIRD MISSIONARY JOURNEY OF PAUL (and many other apostles and disciples of the risen Jesus Christ).
- THE END of a FIRST MISSION beginning back in A.D. 47 had been about fourteen years after his conversion before Christ.
  - 1400 miles through CYPRESS and skirting GALATIA.
  - Paul and Barnabas return to the church at Antioch, Syria to ‘report all that God had done.‘
- In ACTS 15, Peter, James, Paul and other leading men of the church meet to resolve issues of JEWS and GENTILES eating and worshiping together, after which apostles were SENT out to the churches.
- These apostles of a SECOND MISSION then departed from Jerusalem to SYRIA and GALATIA in A.D. 49,
  - then crossing into Europe (THRACE, MACEDONIA, GREECE & ACHAIA);
  - Paul returns to ASIA MINOR, establishing an important church in Ephesus.
  - Paul returns to Antioch, via Jerusalem, having travelled a distance of 2800 miles
The Connection of Christ’s Missions

A.D. 52 – Apostles’ Missions so far..
- A.D. 57
  - Paul is about to give an account of his recent 5-year, 2700 mile THIRD MISSION to the church in Jerusalem.
Prophesying the unseen future

previously, a prophesy in Caesarea

Acts of the Apostles 21:
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NOTE: Due to the seriousness of ongoing issues of the Church formally considering Paul's report from mostly Gentile Hellenist Roman cities, please consider the gravity of a more formal Scripture of the American Standard Version (revision of 19th c. English update of the A.D. 1611 King James Bible.) - RH
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More People, More Problems

18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present.

And when he had saluted them, he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles through his ministry.
Acts of the Apostles 21:19 ASV
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Let us PAUSE here to consider what witness Paul has 'rehearsed' to this council of Jerusalem Elders. 

It's been some seven or eight years since James and and the leaders of the CHURCH SENT this Apostle to the Gentiles with specific anointing and instruction.
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The things which God hath wrought !
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FIRST: defining a verb made archaic to Common Era ears
Wrought [121x in the ASV]
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- Thus all the work that Solomon wrought for the house of Jehovah was finished. – 2 Chronicles 5:1a
- And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah; and he wrought that which was good and right and faithful before Jehovah his God. – 2 Chronicles 31:20
- And it came to pass, when all our enemies heard thereof, that all the nations that were about us feared, and were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. – Nehemiah 6:16
But he that *doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God.
Gospel of John 3:21 ASV [context John 3:19-21]
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* ποιέω - is the SAME word Luke uses as 'rehearsed' om ACTS 21:19  - ..he rehearsed one by one the things which God had wrought among the Gentiles..
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What hath God wrought, might Isr'l say
Author: Thomas Gibbons AD 1720-1785
Published in 4 hymnals
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WROUGHT ! archaic to Common Era worship perhaps, but having a GRAVITY of TRUTH required of Paul to make his case for the Gentiles to cultural Jews.

And they, when they heard it, glorified God; and they said unto him,

Thou seest, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of them that have believed;

and they are all zealous for the law: and they have been informed concerning thee, that thou teachest all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs.
ACTS 29:20b-21 ASV

James tells Paul why he must address many new believers providing truth and evidence overturning false accusations against the Way made by zealous Judeans.

What is it therefore?

they will certainly hear that thou art come.

Remember back in Caesarea?

Thus saith the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. – Acts of the Apostles 21:11b ASV – prophesy through Agabus for the Apostle Paul

This leader of the Jerusalem church once an unbelieving Galilean Jew (biological half-brother of Jesus) suggests a plan for Paul to convince them.

Do therefore this that we say to thee:
- We have four men that have a vow on them;
- 24 these take, and purify thyself with them,
- and be at charges for them,
- that they may shave their heads:
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These purification rites relate to Levitical Law & ALSO required completion of a VOW to the LORD.
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and all shall know that there is no truth in the things whereof they have been informed concerning thee;

but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, keeping the law.

Clear PUBLIC evidence of TRUTH !

AND in true leadership form JAMES reminds of their decision already made earlier regarding GENTILE customs:

But as touching the Gentiles that have believed, we wrote, giving judgment that they should keep themselves from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what is strangled, and from fornication.

Paul receives their advise humbly (even knowing somewhat of the outcome), as the Apostle has been counseled by the Holy Spirit.

26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them went into the temple, declaring the fulfilment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.

ACTS of the Apostles – To Be Continued…

What God Hath Wrought 2

Talk of JESUS . com

Comment on Scripture – Share the Gospel
April 26, 2024
Sanctification and your Walk Toward Holiness
WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION and WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Walking instructions to please God more

Not ME – the deception of SIN

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. – 1 Thessalonians 4:1 KJV

SOUNDS LIKE GOOD FATHERLY ADVICE, doesn’t it?

Allow me to tell you a story about a letter.
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ONCE UPON A TIME there were some gentile pigs (as Jews supposed them to be) 
who having fled their straw and stick houses to a brother's brick-built house where these young believers thought they were safe from the enemy.

BUT did some young saint slip out through a wider door of their former sins?
And won't the unclean pig only to be barbecued by the enemy?

Paul, a father of these tender believers, knows that the enemy may deceive them. 
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The apostles Paul and Silas have recently received good news about the Thessalonians from Timothy.

ἀπόστολος – Apostles of Christ
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and communication with the Church
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1 Thessalonians 3: .. we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, 2 and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith..

BEFORE Paul’s speech to the idol worshipers of Athens — BETWEEN the two missionary journeys (the first with Barnabas and this with Silvanus) — the risen Jesus sent out JEWS and GENTILES with clarification of the GOOD NEWS (Gospel) of ALL believers becoming sanctified by the blood of the Cross and a call to holiness and righteousness in Christ.

Epistle from the Council of Jerusalem – Acts 15:20

.. we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God,
but should write to them
to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:19b-20 ESV

Letters from other Church Fathers about Sanctification

In the sense that Jesus’ biological half-brother James sends out this apostolic instruction and another letter to the Church, for he too is an apostle (although not by a personal journey into the nations).

In A.D. 49 James writes:

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:4

Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
from a recent letter from James 1:21 ESV written ~A.D. 49 ~ the same time as the Council at Jerusalem

Galatia was a large Roman province which at that time included the region north to the Black Sea but most populated along the Mediterranean and included Cypress, Pamphylia and other regions.

Paul has already written a general epistle to the Galatians in A.D. 49 which includes churches founded during his first missionary journey.

Sanctification of children learning to walk in Christ

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God,

how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 4:8-9 ESV

“Abba! Father!” WE ARE NO LONGER SLAVES of these things!
Now the works of the flesh are evident:
- sexual immorality,
- impurity,
- sensuality,
- idolatry,
- sorcery,
- enmity,
- strife,
- jealousy,
- fits of anger,
- rivalries,
- dissensions,
- divisions,
- envy,
- drunkenness,
- orgies,
- and things like these.
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Paul’s letter (epistle) to the Galatians 5:19-21 ESV
A.D. 50 –

Paul, so pleased with his Thessalonian children, now warns of dangers before them.

1 Thessalonians 4:

2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus.
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The Apostle sent by Christ our Lord to the Nations commands his beloved young children.
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3 For this is the will of God,

your sanctification:
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Before we continue with Paul's command through the Lord Jesus and God the Father let's DEFINE a term sometimes omitted from some English translations of the Holy Bible.
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ἁγιασμός – Lexicon :: Strong’s G38 – hagiasmos

a word used only by Biblical and ecclesiastical writings signifying:
1. consecration, purification, τὸ ἁγιάζειν.
2. the effect of consecration: sanctification of heart and life, 1 Corinthians 1:30 (Christ is he to whom we are indebted for sanctification); 1 Thessalonians 4:7; Romans 6:19, 22; 1 Timothy 2:15; Hebrews 12:14; ἁγιασμὸς πνεύματος sanctification wrought by the Holy Spirit, 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2.
It is opposed to lust in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 f. (It is used in a ritual sense, Judges 17:3 [Alexandrian LXX]; Ezekiel 45:4; [Amos 2:11]; Sir. 7:31, etc.) [On its use in the N. T. cf. Ellicott on 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:13.]
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The King James and other versions of the Bible generally translate this as SANCTIFICATION or HOLINESS. Paul will use it 3x in the next few verses of his Epistle and uses its root word in his benediction [5:23], as well as later in a second letter.
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God has chosen you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
2 Thessalonians 2:13B

that you abstain ἀπέχω

from sexual immorality

Here’s a HOT TOPIC in Thessaloniki now OR anywhere in every generation.

πορνεία

porneia

“fornication” is the old word for this “porneia” behaviour nearly no one remembers.
- illicit sexual intercourse
  - adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, intercourse with animals etc.
  - sexual intercourse with close relatives; Lev. 18
  - sexual intercourse with a divorced man or woman; Mk. 10:11-12
- metaph. the worship of idols
Each must control our body

4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
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"..possess his own vessel" [acquire his OWN wife, referring to fornication or adultery, states the King James] 
"..in sanctification and honor,"

THERE IT IS AGAIN - SANCTIFICATION of the flesh (for HOLINESS of the vessel of our spirit).
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WHY CONTROL IT?
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Again, from the KJV, the reason lies at the end of Paul's single long sentence which began back in v.3.
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For this is the will of God, even your sanctification.. That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter:

because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified.
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Remember v. 2 pointing back to their previous instruction in Christ?
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OR ELSE!

For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.

ἀκαθαρσία – UNCLEANNESS?
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 (Isn't there a better way for a 21st century Christian to read this?)
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Of course we could use other words to describe those who refuse to wash their flesh in the sanctifying cleansing water of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible almost always points toward an imagery of walking in the way Christ would be recognized by OUR witness.

Lexicon :: Strong’s G167 – akatharsia

ἀκαθαρσία, -ας, ἡ, (ἀκάθαρτος) [from Hippocrates down], uncleanness;
a. physical: Matthew 23:27.
b. in a moral sense, the impurity of lustful, luxurious, profligate living: Romans 1:24; Romans 6:19; 2 Corinthians 12:21; Galatians 5:19; Ephesians 4:19; Ephesians 5:3; Colossians 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 4:7; used of impure motives in 1 Thessalonians 2:3. (Demosthenes, p. 553, 12.) Cf. Tittmann i., p. 150f.

⁸Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
1 Thessalonians 4:8 ESV

Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy then return to their opening praise of the Thessalonian church.

9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia.

But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
1 Thessalonians 5:27 KJV – conclusion of the first Epistle from Paul to the Thessalonians

Next (or should I say, LAST) – eschatology

I have already detailed Paul’s praise for this church with the enemy at the door of its brick house, BUT we won’t want to overlook the Apostle’s warning of later times like these…

Some commentators believe Paul’s principle purpose in writing to the Thessalonians is warning about last times.

.. the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

Stay tuned.
July 17, 2023
Corinth – 1st Church Plant in ACHAIA
So why did Paul leave Athens, Greece? These apostles to the Gentiles are sent to Corinth by the Holy Spirit to plant a church in Achaia.

ACTS of the Apostles 18:
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THIS summary of Paul's first two missions INCLUDES a 20 YEAR TIMELINE OF THE EARLY CHURCH. 
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After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
You’ll recall the Apostle’s great proclamation of the Gospel at the Areopagus of Mars Hill in the shadow of a Roman built-back-better ancient Acropolis. (The same philosophers’ debates continue into this distant millennium.)

Lectures about God in Athens’ University of Idols

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” – ACTS of the Apostles 17:32 ESV

So Paul went out from their midst.
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We will talk about those new disciples who joined Paul's mission in Athens once we arrive in Corinth.
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ACTS of the Apostles 18:
The Mission to Corinth
Gospel of Luke 10:
a Timeline of 2 missions
A.D. 30’s –
A.D. 40’s –
~A.D. 47- 49 + Paul’s Mission with Barnabas
~A.D. 49 – 51 + Paul’s Second Mission with Silas & others
Missionaries with Paul sent out to the STATES of Rome
The Mission to Corinth

17:33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
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Prior to leaving Athens Dionysius and Damaris AND others join 'them.' 
TWO new believers plus unnamed 'others.' 
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Please don’t forget that Jesus, the Twelve Apostles, rabbis, and even those Greek philosophers who invited Paul to address them at the Areopagus in Athens all had followers. Some disciples (or followers) of these men frequently traveled with these teaching mentors to learn more.

Paul and the missionaries of the early church are no exception. The apostle to the gentiles does not preach the Gospel in Athens or anywhere else without the witness of other disciples of Jesus Christ.

ἀποστέλλω
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Lexicon :: Strong's G649 - apostellō
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Paul has disciples of the Way of Jesus Christ with him — other apostles SENT by the Holy Spirit – and others followers sent to become ministers of Christ’s church in all the world.

Gospel of Luke 10:

Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent G649 them in G649 pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

4 “Go! Behold, I send G649 you out G649 as lambs in the midst of wolves.

What kind of MAN would send out 70 missionaries with the Gospel into the midst of wolves?

JESUS!

“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me. And he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent G649 Me.”
Gospel of Luke 10:16 LSB – the Word of Jesus by the Authority of God the Father to seventy disciples

Paul will later write to his disciple Timothy, whom he has already circumcised to keep the young man from the wolves seeking their lives —

For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
1 Timothy 2:7 ESV

Jesus had brought Paul to Himself years ago in Syria, then to Cypress and Galatia previously with Barnabas. Now with Silas and several others the Apostle of the Gentiles journeys through Syria, Galatia, Macedonia, briefly to Greece and here to ACHAIA and its important city of Corinth.

Paul and his company of Christians from Antioch and many other places will build yet another church for the Corinthians and Christ Jesus here in the months to come.

a 20 YEAR Timeline of 2 missions

PAUL, as before, has fled Athens with the young lambs of Christ’s fold not only preserving his own life from the pack of Jewish and Hellenist wolves but done so to continue on the Lord Jesus’ mission before harm might be inflicted on any in his care.

A.D. 30’s –

Jesus crucified and raised from the dead!

The risen Christ instructs the Twelve (now including Mathias) until Pentecost and appears to more than 500 witnesses before the Lord ascends into Heaven. Jesus’ brothers James (who will later lead the Jerusalem church) and Jude now believe and proclaim Jesus as Lord.

The Apostles and others receive the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem and go out to Jews and Samaritans with the Gospel.

After Saul of Tarsus (Paul) had pursued and killed many disciples of the risen Lord, Jesus confronts him near Damascus, later sending Saul into all the world as His vessel with the Gospel. Paul then goes to Arabia.

A.D. 40’s –

Three years after Paul’s conversion and ten years after Jesus’ resurrection Peter, who earlier had miraculously escaped prison in Jerusalem, takes the Gospel to the Gentiles, including Romans.

Then in ~A.D. 44 the Apostle James is murdered and once again Peter is freed from prison in Jerusalem by angels.

The Apostles have begun their journey into all the world, occasionally returning to Jerusalem where Jesus’ half-brother James is now leader of the local church.

~A.D. 47- 49 + Paul’s 1st Mission with Barnabas

Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
Acts of the Apostles 13:1-3 ESV – commissioning of Paul and Barnabas for 1st mission

49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jews incited the devout women of high standing and the leading men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their district. 51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

When an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to mistreat them and to stone them, they learned of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding country, and there they continued to preach the gospel.
Acts of the Apostles 14:5-7 ESV

I reiterate this from Paul’s first mission to emphasize both the persecution by Jews and Gentiles AND the persistence of the Apostles in uplifting these new churches with letters and returning to them on other missions. Barnabas and Mark returned to Cypress. On this mission Paul began by returning to these same churches of his earlier mission in the same regions of Galacia.

‘Go into all of the world‘ of the Hellenist Roman Aegean with the Gospel

~A.D. 49 – 51 + Paul’s Second Mission with Silas & others

A.D. 49 – the Council at Jerusalem

In the year of our Lord 49 the Council at Jerusalem was followed by several notable witnesses of Christ in various ways.
- James, brother of Jesus & leader of the church in Jerusalem writes a letter primarily to the Jews of the dispersion,
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Letter of James 1:2-4 ESV
- Paul writes a letter to the Galatians, saints of the churches he and Barnabas have just planted in the region of Galatia including Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.
from Paul and all the brothers who are with me.. To the churches of Galatia: 1:6-7 ESV
- The Emperor Claudius expelled most Jews (including the sect of Christians) from Rome
  - Those expelled from Rome included Priscilla and Anguilla, who the Lord will use in an important new missing in ACHAIA.
Missionaries in Corinth sent out to the STATES of Rome

Again, in A.D. 50 Paul has been sent out with the Gospel to several states of Roman influence – each with its own culture – each with its unique mixture of Hellenists, Italians more connected to Rome’s politics, Jews (some connected to the politics of Jerusalem), just regular residents, travelers, merchants, foreigners and of course, varying numbers of active and retired Roman soldiers.

Acts 18 ESV – Paul in Corinth
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NOTE all the other apostles sent to Corinth in ACHAIA with Paul.
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After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Part of the kingdom was now annexed to the Roman Empire, being united with Bithynia in a double province called Pontus and Bithynia: this part included only the seaboard between Heraclea (today Ereğli) and Amisus (Samsun), the ora Pontica.[18] The larger part of Pontus, however, was included in the province of Galatia.
Source: Wikipedia

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them,

“Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
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Once again, the Apostle sent into all the world has taken the Gospel first to his brothers in the faith of God - the Jews. AND once again as in other cities before many BUT NOT ALL Jews reject Paul and the Good News of the Messiah - the Christ, Jesus.
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7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue.

(ALSO) 8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord (Jesus) , together with his entire household.
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These two local men of Corinth are important and influential Jews, but they cannot dissuade the outside influences of Jewish zealots who have rejected their own Messiah.
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And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
Acts of the Apostles 18:8b ESV

Acts for a 21st c. Church

– a history of the 1st century church –

To Be Continued… in Corinth.
June 2, 2023