Sticking Around for Awhile...

 

Acts 18:9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 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.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

As we have seen so far in both missionary journeys of Paul, he often drew opposition - especially from the Jews who refused to respond to the Gospel. This kept many of his city visits short, often a matter of weeks. But as we see above, there were some places where Paul stuck around for months, or longer, up to three years.  These longer stays allowed Paul to do some deeper discipleship with the likes of Priscilla and Aquila and others. The next paragraph goes on to tell how eventually opposition did arise in Corinth, but Paul himself was not harmed.  He went with them to Ephesus, leaving them there to strengthen the church, while he went back through other cities to strengthen them on the way back to Antioch.  While there this couple had the opportunity to disciple many, including Apollos, who became a great apologist, giving depth to the church there.