The Mission

Paul Bitterly Attacked

The Jews’ hatred now intensified. The baptism of Crispus exasperated these stubborn opposers. They slandered the gospel and the name of Jesus. No words were too bitter, no device too low, for them to use. They boldly affirmed that Paul accomplished his wonderful works through the power of Satan. 4TC 130.5

The wickedness that Paul saw in corrupt Corinth almost took his courage away. The moral corruption among the Gentiles and the insults he received from the Jews caused him great distress. He doubted the wisdom of trying to build up a church from the material he found there. 4TC 130.6

As he was planning to leave for a more promising field, the Lord appeared to him in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you ...; for I have many people in this city.” Paul understood this to be a guarantee that the Lord would give a harvest for the seed sown in Corinth. Encouraged, he continued to work there with zeal. 4TC 131.1

Paul spent much time in house-to-house effort. He visited the sick and the grieving, comforted the afflicted, and lifted up the oppressed. He was greatly concerned that his teaching bear the stamp of the divine rather than the human. 4TC 131.2

“We speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8, 13). 4TC 131.3

Paul spoke of himself as “always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10). In the apostle’s teachings, Christ was the central figure. “It is no longer I who live,” he wrote, “but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). 4TC 131.4

Paul was an eloquent speaker. But now he set all soaring oratory aside. Instead of indulging in poetic but empty expressions that might please the senses but not touch the daily experience, with simple language he tried to bring to the heart the truths of vital importance. The present trials that people struggle with—these he wanted to meet with practical instruction in the fundamental principles of Christianity. 4TC 131.5

Many in Corinth turned from idols to serve the living God, and a large church was established under the banner of Christ. Some of the most shameless sinners among the Gentiles became towering examples of the power of Christ’s blood to cleanse from sin. 4TC 131.6