The last thing God did to encourage Paul was to speak with him, saying he would bless the work in Corinth. Let’s continue our look at what God said.

Paul had ample cause to be discouraged and no doubt was, just as we have causes to be discouraged and are. But now comes the good news. At this very point, when Paul was most discouraged, God intervened in several important ways to encourage him.

We can learn a great deal about Paul’s condition if we read the chapter carefully. I think, too, that it was not only the experiences that he had before he came to Corinth that must have weighed upon him, but also the difficulties once he was there.

Why do I think that Paul was probably quite discouraged as he entered Corinth? There are three reasons to suppose that he was.

In the eighteenth chapter of Acts, we find Paul working for a year and a half in Corinth. Corinth was not like Athens. In fact, it was different from most other cities Paul had visited. Yet it was receptive to the Gospel, and Paul spent the first long period of his missionary career in this city. Later he would spend a similarly long time in Ephesus.