And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Acts 18:9-11
Christianity is never stopped by persecution. When things got dicey for Paul, God often grew his ministry in that hardship. A strong church would be left behind when Paul moved on. In the situation at Corinth after a scarey move of the culture against the fledgling church, God commanded Paul to stay, promising His protection. And Paul obeyed and spent a year and half more preaching the gospel in a thriving congregation.
Now Paul had the benefit in this instance of receiving direct revelation from Jesus commanding him to stay on in Corinth, assuring him that He had many people there who embraced the gospel. And although I don’t believe Christians can expect to be told these kind of specific commands today in a dream, the clear example of the apostles in the book of Acts is one of staying strong and contrasting Christian faith in an oppositional culture. And the church ALWAYS won… even when missionaries where driven out of towns… even when church leaders were beaten and imprisoned… even when believers were killed for preaching the gospel!
We should not be afraid of any opposition to Jesus. It is weak and powerless against the Spirit-emboldened advance of the light of the gospel against the darkness. Jesus has many people. We may not even be close to aware of just how many He is drawing to Himself! Instead of being afraid, we should be bold and not fear… we should not fear academia’s arrogant agendas, nor woke politics, not powerful celebrity voices, not a communications media spreading lies, nor social pressures, nor upcoming elections, nor even threats made against our lives. Jesus already has many people. And this world cannot successfully resist the will of God and the rule of the King of kings!
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