Christian Baptism

Christian Baptism

Selected texts

Introduction

This afternoon, we will have the great privilege of celebrating the ordinance of baptism. In case you hadn’t guessed, baptism in a Baptist church is a significant thing. Unlike some, we don’t talk about it all the time. G. Campbell Morgan tells of one preacher’s sermon entitled “Adam Where Are You?” (3:9).

The preacher said he would follow three lines of thought: “first, where Adam was; second, how he was to be saved from where he was; third, a few words about baptism.”

We don’t talk about it that much, but today we do want to pause in our series on Acts and look to what the Scriptures say about baptism. Why is it so significant? Why do other churches baptize differently than us? What difference should it make in the life of every Christians?

This morning, we want to understand why we do this thing called baptism. We want to see what the NT says about baptism. Specifically, we want to see “the meaning of Christian baptism,” and “the method of Christian baptism.”

This morning’s message will be a little bit different. Normally, we work through a specific passage of Scripture. This morning though, I will be giving what is sometimes called a topical sermon. I will be pulling together several passages to bring together a more complete picture of baptism than any one passage can give.

The first thing we want to see this morning is,

1. The Meaning of Baptism

Baptism doesn’t mean just one thing. Like a precious stone, it has many facets. This morning, I want us to see three things that speak to the meaning of baptism

1.1 Baptism is a testimony to God’s salvation

As we’ve been reading through the book of Acts, we’ve seen that baptism and salvation are closely linked. Those that were saved, were also baptized.

Acts 8:12-13, “But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.”

Acts 10:44-48, “While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, ‘Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?’ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.”

Why were they baptized? Because it was a testimony to God’s action in their life. Baptism dramatically displayed that the person was identifying with Christ.

Paul explains like this in Galatians 3: “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:26-27).

This was the first century – there were no baptisteries – it was done outside. Both believers and unbelievers would have witnessed the baptisms. So, this was not only an encouragement to the believers, but a witness to the lost.

Everyone would know that a person being baptized had forsaken their old religion, and now followed and worshipped Christ as Lord. Now, we have to be careful here; the New Testament describes two baptisms. The first is an invisible baptism in the Spirit; the second is a visible baptism in water.

In 1 Cor 12:12-13, Paul says, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

The second baptism (water baptism) is an outward sign of an internal reality (baptism of the Spirit). It is a picture of one’s entrance into the new covenant of Jesus Christ.

Again, Paul is helpful to us here… Romans 6:3-5, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Paul says that baptism into Christ unites the believer to Christ. Let me explain this. In Romans 5, Paul shows that everyone is born under the headship of Adam; he stands our representative before God. But there is a small problem – Adam sinned. Since he stands as our representative, it is as if we all have sinned.

However, those who believe in Christ are no longer under the headship of Adam, but are under the headship of Christ. He stands as the Righteous One, so those who are under him also stand as righteous before God.

So here in Romans 6, Paul is saying that when we are baptized, we are identifying with Christ.

It is into Christ that we are immersed; we are united with him. When we are baptized into him, it means that we share in his death, burial, and in his resurrection. Our old self – the old Adam – has died, and our new self, the second Adam – Christ – lives within us!

If we are united with Christ, it means that we are a part of the new creation and the new covenant, victory over death and sin is ours.

So think of it like this: when you finish high school, or college you ‘graduate.’ But when do you graduate? You graduate when you have completed all of your course work with passing grades. So on the last day of classes, when you take the last of your exams and turn the last of your papers …you can rightly say ‘I have graduated from college.’

But we have this little thing that we do called a graduation ceremony. In reality you have already graduated – the work is done.

But to show everyone that you have graduated, you get dressed up in robes and an odd hat, walk across a platform where all can see you, and you are handed a slip of paper that says you have completed all of your work and have earned a degree. If you do not participate, do you still have the degree? Of course! The ceremony is simply a public acknowledgment of your graduation.

In many ways, baptism is similar. Water baptism is a testimony to an act of God. It testifies to the inward baptism in the Spirit that has already occurred. The washing of Spirit that the prophet Ezekiel looked forward to – a washing that cleanses us from sin. Thus, baptism is a sign of our new life in Christ that we already possess. This sign serves as a witness to unbelievers that we have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; and as a witness believers, encouraging them that God is at work in the world bringing many sons to Himself.

Baptism is not only a testimony to God’s action, it is also an,

B. Baptism is an act of obedience to God’s command

How is being baptized an act of obedience? Because Christ commanded it! Before he ascended to heaven, Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt 28:18-20).

Sometimes we forget about a vital part of this command. We place great emphasis on evangelizing the lost (which is good). But baptism is given the same level of importance as evangelism in this passage. Jesus believed that a vital part of being a disciple is being baptized.

The reasonable question to ask is, “Why was it so important to Him and his disciples?” When we read the NT, we see that it is important because it represents your submission to the Lord Jesus Christ – it shows your obedience to his will. And stands as a picture of your willingness to follow him with all of your life. It declares, that “it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you.”

And so baptism is not to be taken lightly. In college, one young man was kicked off his mission team preparing for a trip. The reason was that he had never been baptized! It was explained to him to him that in the area they were going, Christians would have been rejected by their family, possibly even lost jobs simply because they were baptized.

Culturally, baptism kind of escapes us many times. But in other parts of the world, it is clearly understood. Where we have been going – to Niger – working among the Tamashek, baptism is taken very seriously. People make a profession of faith and then sometimes a year later they are baptized. Why? Because the church wants to make sure they were serious about confessing Christ as Lord. In other parts of the world like Sudan, parts of the Middle East and Asia, people die because they have been baptized.

They get it. They get the imagery, they get the meaning. They understand that to be baptized is to declare that every part of you – from head to toe – has died to your old life of sin, and now lives under the lordship of Christ, for the glory of God.

C. Baptism is a Boundary Marker for God’s People

It has been said that the church has a front gate, but no fence around it. What do I mean by that?

Often, you have to do something to get into church, but once you are in, there is nothing that distinguishes those inside the church from those outside the church.

Baptism wasn’t just an odd formality of the early Christians. It had significance for their lives.

The NT writers held such a high view of baptism, that they used it to exhort believers to live lives holy to the Lord. They used that fact that they were baptized as a platform for calling them to live differently from the world.

For example, in Eph 4:5 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Here, believers are reminded of the unity of the body of Christ. Christians are called to be unified just as the human body is unified. We are not to let ourselves be divided over non-essential issues things.

Heb 6:2 says, “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings [baptism], the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.”

The author of Hebrews exhorts his readers to move beyond the basics of faith. He says that their baptism proves that they have obtained salvation by faith in Christ, now they must not stand still but move toward maturity. Spiritual laziness and mediocrity is not an option for the Christian.

Finally, we can look to 1 Peter 3. Peter is writing to a group of Christians experience persecution and suffering. And he begins by talking about Noah and his family being brought safely from the destruction of the world through water. And then he says, “Baptism, which corresponds to this – the passing of Noah through the waters – Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God,

At first glance, we may be tempted to think this text contradicts the others we’ve seen. But if we look at the context, we can see this isn’t right. Peter says, just removing the dirt from the body doesn’t save you, so baptism doesn’t save you. What saves a person is the death of Jesus Christ for sinners. Thus baptism saves because it is anchored in the risen Christ.

This is why Peter says baptism is an appeal to God. An appeal for what? An appeal for a good conscience. Peter says, baptism is an appeal to God for an inward, spiritual cleansing because of the death and resurrection of Christ.

Peter goes on and says, since you’ve been baptized – since you’ve experienced new life in Christ – then remember “to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. The time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.”

Here, Peter uses the believers’ baptism to encourage them to stand firm in their faith, even amidst persecution. Hard times may bring temptation to retreat to our old way of life – being a Christian is too hard.

Peter says your baptism marked the end of your old life and the beginning of your new life in Christ – do not go back to acting like the Gentiles, no matter how much they malign you; there is no going back!

When the explorer Cortez reached the new world, he ordered his ships burned. He knew that hardships would come, and the sailors and settlers would be tempted to return home. He wanted them to understand the permanence of their situation.

Likewise, baptism clearly and definitively set apart Christian from the world and their former lives. It is boundary marker that encourages us to press on toward the new heavens and the new earth, not looking behind to our old way of life.

2. The Method of Baptism

Here, we simply want to explain why and how we baptize the way we do. We want to see how our practice is rooted in the New Testament.

2.1. Who do we baptize?

So, who do we baptize? Those that publicly profess Christ – those that are saved. From what we have seen this morning about the meaning of baptism, this should be obvious. Since baptism points to the salvation of the individual, only those who are saved should be baptized.

As you read the NT, the apostles often spoke of baptism as shorthand for salvation. They never conceived of a person being saved and not being baptized, or of a person being baptized who wasn’t saved.

This brings us to an important question: “why not baptize infants?” Many of our brothers and sisters  believe in infant baptism and yet we do not. It is important then to consider why this is the case.

The Roman Catholic Church believes that baptism removes original sin, and so is absolutely necessary for salvation. But we’ve just seen that the NT doesn’t teach that.

But there are some Protestant churches that baptize infants – what about them? I’m thinking here especially of Presbyterians. They baptize infants, not because they think it saves them. They believe that the baby being baptized would still need to place their faith in Christ for salvation.

They see baptism as a sign of the new covenant like circumcision was a sign for Israel under the old covenant. So then, parents who are saved (part of the new covenant) baptize their children as sign that they are part of the covenant community. However, that infant baptism is only made valid and given significance. If the child grows up to place his or her faith in Christ.

A broad parallel might be seen in those parents who graduate from a prestigious university, and set-up tuition fund at that same school for their infant children. It makes it likely that they will go and graduate from the university. However, the child still needs to make the decision to go there, or they will not get the degree and so be an alumnus.

Now, why do we not believe in infant baptism? Because we do not believe that this is a biblical understanding of baptism. Now, when I say that, I do not mean that those who believe in baptizing infants do not believe in the Bible, are unsaved, or are not good, faithful Christians.

I am saying that we believe that they are wrong in their interpretation of the Scriptures concerning baptism. I say this for two reasons. First, in the early years of the church, there was controversy over the relationship of Jews, Gentiles, and law. Paul addresses it in Galatians; James (church leader) makes a decision in Acts 15.

When some are insisting that the Gentiles be circumcised, and Paul is arguing that they don’t,

He never says: ‘don’t you understand that baptism replaces circumcision.’ It would make sense that if Paul believes that, he would have used it to end the confusion. But he never comes close to saying anything like this. So, it is an argument from silence, but in this case, the silence is deafening!

The second is positive argument from Scripture. Paul does say that that there is something that is required to enter the people of God. It is not the circumcision of the flesh … but a circumcision of the heart.

What does that mean? It means you must have faith! Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is required to be a part of God’s people. In Eph 2, Paul says that when you hear the gospel, God does a work in your heart whereby you are brought to life.

Like Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb, God says, ‘John Botkin … live!’ And as my heart is made new, and the scales of spiritual blindness fall from my eyes, I believe in Jesus Christ as the one who died for me. “Faith is the cry of the newborn of Christian.”

So, if there is a sign of the new covenant that is analogous to circumcision in the old covenant, it is not baptism, but faith given by the Spirit.

2.1. How do we baptize?

Finally, how do we baptize? We baptize by immersion. Throughout church history, many have baptized in many ways. Some have sprinkled, poured, immersed, immersed 3 times…

Why do we immerse? The answer here is simple – that’s what they did in the NT! The word that we have in our Bibles as baptize literally means to dip or immerse. We see places when the word is used to describe a person ‘baptizing their pots and bowls.” In the NT it is clear that when the church baptized, they immersed the person in water.

But secondly, it provides the best picture of salvation. By being plunged into the water, we have a picture of our plunge into Christ of our being covered by him, of being immersed in his dead and burial. And as we rise out of the water, we have a picture of the resurrection of Christ, and our being made alive to Him.

Conclusion and Application

This morning, if you are here, you will find yourself in one of three places. Regardless of which place you are in, there is a decision that must be made.

1. If you have not trusted in Christ in your savior – you must!

Without Christ, you have no hope. The Bible says that the name of Christ is the only name by which men may be saved. He alone came and paid the penalty for your sin, by believing in him alone can you be saved from God’s wrath against sin.

2. If you have trusted in Christ, but have not been baptized – you must!

Baptism is an act of obedience to the Lord. By being baptized you declare to the world that…

You have trusted in him as your lord and savior; you have died with him and now experience new life; you are not your own, but now belong to him. By being baptized you testify to the wonderful grace of God in your life.

3. If you have trusted in Christ, if you have been baptized, then you must live like it!

Your baptism said to the world that you are a new person in Christ, now you must live like it!  As Peter says, you must “make your calling and election sure.”

You no longer live to satisfy your desires. You live to please the one who bought you with his blood. It means that every morning you wake up and remember that’s because of God’s grace you’ve died to your old self and have been given new life by the Spirit of God.  Because of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, you have been adopted as God’s child and now live to serve him and bring him glory.  You begin each day asking, “Lord, what can I do to honor and please you today?”

Mission: Unstoppable – “Lasting Effects of Gospel Ministry” (Acts 19:21-41)

Lasting Effects of Gospel Ministry

Acts 19:21-41

Introduction

Ideas have consequences. In the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40, there was an exhibit – seen by fifteen million people – called “Highways and Horizons.” The centerpiece was a diorama of a city of the future – Futurama. The size of a football field, it showed how fast, wide highways would let people escape the heat and dense tenements of the city.

By the 1960s, Americans could live in free-standing homes, with spacious yards and attached garages. In this exhibit the suburbs were conceived. Engineers and architects built them and they brought the nation prosperity. Ideas have consequences.

The apostle Paul knew as well. Over the past few weeks, we have seen God raising up more leaders to assist Paul in spreading the gospel. We saw the church growing because of Paul’s strategy of teaching God’s word. Now, today we want to see the effects of that ministry of the word. We want to see the consequences of ideas – true ideas rooted in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

[21] Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” [22] And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

[23] About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. [24] For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. [25] These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. [26] And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. [27] And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

[28] When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” [29] So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. [30] But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. [31] And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. [32] Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. [33] Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. [34] But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

[35] And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? [36] Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. [37] For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. [38] If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. [39] But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. [40] For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” [41] And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Luke begins by telling of Paul’s plans to soon leave Ephesus and head north, going through Macedonia, then turning southwest down to the region of Achaia. Undoubtedly, this was to finish collecting the offering that he asked for to help assist the Christians who were struggling because of the famine near Jerusalem.

But he isn’t quite ready to leave and sends along some of his co-workers to tell them to get ready. To finish giving so that he can return to Jerusalem with the money. We’ll read about this again when we get to chapter 21.

For now, Paul still wants to finish up and simply sends some of his co-workers ahead of him. As he completes his ministry in Ephesus, he given a glimpse of the lasting effects the gospel will have on that city.

If we follow Paul’s example in focusing our ministry on God’s word. In preaching and teaching the truth of Christ from the Bible, this is what we can expect as well. And it’s what we should continue to work for in our own lives, as Christians.

1. Reject Idols that Hinder True Worship

Verse 23 says, “About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.” That’s Luke way of saying that the spread of Christianity (then called the Way) was causing some people to become upset.

He goes to tell us that this silversmith Demetrius, is upset with them and calls together the silversmith workers union for a meeting. He says, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. [26] And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

What’s happening in Ephesus? And Luke tells us in v. 20 – “the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”

People are being taught the word of God. They are being taught spiritual truth. And people are being saved. And when you stack the false gods of any age up against the genuine article – up against one, true and living God – there’s no contest.

Many of the Ephesians have experienced this, so they are turning away from the worship of the false goddess, Artemis. And as a result, they aren’t buying the little trinkets and idols anymore. And this man Demetrius, whom Luke tells is one of the main silversmiths in the town, says ‘These Christians are wrecking our business! We’re losing money!’

This is what happens when God’s word is at work in a person’s life – it transforms them. It not only affects their ideas about God, but all parts of their life. How they think abut marriage, politics, sex, money, ambition, raising, children – everything is changed.

That’s why just previous to this we saw the people who came to faith bringing out their magic books and spells and burning them. Those things had been part of the idolatry of their lives; their worship of demonic power and security. But now, through the power of God in the gospel, all of that has been done away with.

Elsewhere in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul explains that this kind of change is possible – the putting away of idols – is possible because of the enlightening God provides through the gospel. He says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14).

Furthermore, “[the] the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” So what does God do? He opens our eyes! Through the proclamation of the gospel, through the teaching of God’s word, he gives us spiritual life and the ability to discern spiritual truth.

Back in the day, one of the most popular things to have was those Magic Eye posters. Do you know what I’m talking about? They looked like some random scene of square pixels of different colors. But then you learn how to look into the thing and suddenly all kinds of 3-D images come popping out. My in-laws used to have one (might still have it!). I think it was blues and greens, but when you looked at the right way, you saw sharks and sunken treasure, and half-buried pirate ship – reality came into focus.

And on a more profound level, that’s what God does for us through his word. In Colossians 1, Paul says, “[God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” He opens our eyes to spiritual reality and enables us to want to worship him.

As Christians, people who have already been set free from spiritual darkness, we all the more should be at work, rooting out the idols of our heart. Calvin said the human heart is an ‘idol factory.’ What did he mean? As humans, we are built for worship – we all worship something, even if it’s ourselves.

If seen clearly, biblically, the God of the Bible; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God and father of the Lord Jesus Christ; the only true God is always brings more hope, more satisfaction, more joy than any false god.

2. Face Opposition to the Gospel

Paul would have been excited and encouraged with what he saw going on in Ephesus. The people’s response to the preaching of the Scriptures would have sparked joy and thankfulness to God in his heart.

But, as we said before, not everyone was pleased with what was happening. In fact, the reports of what was happening are coming from Demetrius who sees all of this gospel business as a real problem!

Let’s be clear, though. Demetrius is really not worried about spiritual things. What’s his main beef? He’s losing money! Remember what he says, “Men, you know that from this business [of making idols] we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.”

People aren’t buying idols anymore. But notice, he is slicker than that. One commentator says he’d make a great politician! Because, he knows how to work the crowd; he knows how to make a great speech. Demetrius doesn’t leave it with money. No, he wraps up the economic issue with an appeal to nationalism and pride in their deity.

He says, “And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship” (19:27).

Demetrius says, our trade, our guide of silvesmithing will lose its reputation, the temple will lose its prestige, and the goddess will lose her divine majesty. And the people eat it up and Luke says they actually get “enraged and were crying out, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ (19:29).

And a mob forms, and as they move through the streets, they find some of Paul’s traveling companions who were not from Ephesus. Two guys named Gaius and Aristarchus. And they drag them with them as they head into the massive theatre on the end of town. Luke says at this point it really is chaos. It’s a huge mob – as many as 25,000 people, many of whom were confused and didn’t even know why they were there.

One man, Alexander, tries to calm things down, and explain things. But they see that he is a Jewish man. He’s not an Ephesian. And so they shout him down. They yell, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ And they keep at it for two hours!

It’s really an amazing account Luke gives. It would have been terrifying to be a Christian in the city that day. But the truth is, what we read should surprise us. I mean, if you’ve been here for our series in Acts, or you’ve read it before, you know this is nothing different from what we’ve already seen.

In the fact, the Bible teaches that this is what happens with you live the way God wants, people oppose you. This is especially true when finances are involved!

You know it wasn’t that long ago when the Salvation Army churches were really taking off in England. And people started to organize against them. In particular brothel owners would put up money to pay people to join the Skeleton Army and literally fight the Christians in the streets. Why? Because the gospel was changing lives and they were losing money!

You know what Bay City’s known for? (Besides Madonna!) Bars – there everywhere. And you know what I would love? I would love for us to get so passionate about the gospel, that all of the bar owners in Bay City would be filing a petition against us. That the gospel would go forward with power bringing salvation and changing lives and suddenly now one would want to drink any more! The bars would begin losing business, and they’d be like, ‘We’ve got to shut these Christians up – they’re ruining us!’

Maybe it won’t be from bars, maybe it will be losing friends, maybe even losing a job. Who knows? But mark this well – if we are living the way we should, if we are sharing Christ as we should, the enemy will not stand still and people will stand against us.

But you know what Jesus said? “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5:11-12).

3. Trust God’s Sovereign Care

God uses a number of things in this passage to exercise his sovereign control over the situation and protect his people in Ephesus.

First, there is Paul’s testimony. Paul sees this enormous crowd and he wants to head in and begin trying to defend the gospel. Most of us start sweating when it’s one person, Paul doesn’t even flinch when it’s an angry mob.

But if he were to do what he wanted, he’d have been torn apart. The mob was worked up and crazy; half the people didn’t even know why they were there. And did you notice who stops Paul? Did you see who steps in and keeps him from getting killed here?

First, the disciples try to stop him. That’s expected, but then in v. 31, Luke says, “And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater.” Do you know who these guys are? The Asiarchs were from the wealthiest families. They served and helped promote the worship of the emperor of Rome. They’re not Christians.

But notice what Luke calls them – friends of Paul. This should be a by-product of living the Christian life. Some people are going to not like you because you confront their sin; people like Demetrius. But then others will respect you even be your friends, because they’ll see the kind of life you live – a life that looks like Christ.

Let me just pause here and say, do you have an attractive life? I don’t mean are you the life of the party and gregarious, but do you have Christ-like character? Is your life marked by a desire for holiness? Is it marked by love and grace and compassion for people who are hurting? That kind of life will cause people to be attracted to you, even if they don’t believe the gospel.

But then, God used another unlikely person to protect his people – the city mayor! The crowds have tired themselves out from yelling for the past two hours. And the town clerk – the chief administrative officer – begins to quiet the crowd down. And he says, if you keep this up, you’ll have the Romans down us.

Ephesus was a free city, but it was still in the Empire, and Rome didn’t tolerate unlawful, riotous behavior. And that’s what the clerk says is all about. He says, “Men of Ephesus . . . . If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. [39] But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. [40] For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” [41] And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

What did he say? He says, these guys have done nothing wrong. If they’ve really committed some crime, take them to court. In his providence, God spares the people of the Christians in the city. Seeing God work like this should cause us to trust him more. Even when circumstances are beyond our control, it doesn’t mean they are beyond his control.

But we have to be careful here. This doesn’t mean that things will always be easy for us, or that we will never come to any harm under God’s sovereign care. After all, before this we saw Paul taking all kinds of hits. He was forced out of town, beaten, nearly stoned to death. Paul had suffered.

In all of that, what did Paul say? “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). Paul says what happens to me doesn’t matter; whether my life is easy or hard, because in the grand scheme of things I am nothing. All that matters is that I fulfill God’s calling for my life, that I preach the gospel – because that is how God’s kingdom is built.

Just a couple weeks ago I told the story of Hugh Latimer – the English reformer who was eventually burned at the stake for preaching the gospel. Do you remember what he told the man next to him, who was terrified at the though of being burned at the stake? “Be brave, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day, by the grace of God, light such a candle in England as, I trust, shall never be put out.”

He said, ‘What’s about to happen to us will help the cause of Christ. It will cause the gospel to be heard and believed across all of England!’ You see, the death of one man is nothing when it means that death God’s kingdom will be advanced.

Conclusion

It is a fact: the pagan religions of the empire were everywhere when Christianity arrived. Then the heathen temples and priests of the polytheists simply disappeared over the next three centuries until there was nothing left but empty, ruined buildings.

Why not? What had the idols to offer compared to Christ? Bring a gift to Artemis and what is she going to give to you?  Call to your favorite god five, ten, forty times. Then call ten or twenty more.  Can it answer?

But with Christ there is life and joy and hope and peace and salvation. He is the only one true and living God. The only one who deserves our worship. The only one who is worthy of the devotion of our lives.

Therefore, like Paul, let’s commit ourselves to seeing our city transformed as we preach the gospel.

Mission: Unstoppable – “Reaching the City by Proclaiming God’s Word” (Acts 19:1-20)

Reaching the City by Proclaiming God’s Word

Acts 19:1-20

Introduction

We come this morning to one of the most amazing passages in all of Scripture. It’s one of those places where you have to stop and remind yourself, this isn’t just some story or fairytale. This really happened!  It’s an amazing testimony of the power of God’s word.

19:1 And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. 10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

1. Teach God’s Word to Correct Error (19:1-4)

Last week we saw a man named Apollos seemingly come out of nowhere to have an incredible preaching ministry, proving from the Scriptures over and over again that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet there was a deficiency in his theology. He had never been taught about Christian baptism.

But here now we have a more serious problem. Apollos has gone on to Corinth and will have a great impact there. And now, on his third missionary journey, Paul has come back to Ephesus. And they claim to be disciples.

But Paul can see that something is not right. So, he asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” [3] And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”

Now, it’s not as if they don’t know there is a Holy Spirit. After all, even John said, “I have baptized you with water, but [the coming Christ] will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 1:8). So they knew about the Holy Spirit; that he existed, that he was part of the promised blessing that Messiah would bring.

What they didn’t have was the Holy Spirit because they didn’t have Christ. They have experienced a baptism of repentance in anticipation of the coming of the Christ. But then they haven’t heard anymore. They didn’t know that Christ had come. You see, they’re stuck in the old covenant as it were, even though the new has already come in Christ.

So Paul explains what’s gone on since they last heard about John the Baptist. He tells them about the coming of Christ, his substitutionary death on the cross for the sins of his people, his glorious resurrection of the dead and ascension to the right hand of God where he will forever reign over all things.

I want to notice a couple of things here. First of all, what’s amazing is that from simply observing their life, Paul can tell they aren’t Christians. Specifically, that they do not have the Holy Spirit. When I think about that, I cannot help but wonder what Paul would ask me if he met me. Would he be able to immediately discern the fruit of the Spirit in my life, or would he ask ‘Did you ever receive the Spirit when you say you believed?’ What would he say to you?

Most important, though, it’s important to see that Paul taught these people the word of God concerning Jesus. It was the word that he wielded to correct error, their misunderstanding of things – not his opinion or anything else.

2. Teach God’s Word to Bring Salvation (19:5-7)

So what was the response of these 12 men whom Paul found? What was their response to Paul’s correction about the nature of faith in Christ and being baptized into his name? This is what we have been waiting for!

And Luke says, “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [6] And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.”

I think it’s important that we pause to debunk a common error. After all, that’s what Paul does here, isn’t it? Some teachers think this passage teaches that God gives a second blessing in salvation. That you first believe and then at some later point you get the Spirit in a different way and speak in tongues and prophesy.

The problem with that here is that it’s clear these meant aren’t even saved yet. So, they are believing in Christ for salvation, receiving God’s Spirit, and speaking in tongues all at the same time. It’s similar to what we have seen with the Samaritans and the Gentiles in previous chapters. The apostles’ presence authenticating the progress of the gospel with a mini-Pentecost. Or better put, as John Stott says, they were catching up to Pentecost.

Although there would be some things we would disagree with theology, there is much to admire about John Wesley. He would one day become a great evangelist alongside George Whitfield and be used by God to bring about the Great Awakening – a tremendous revival – in this country.

When he was younger, he was raised by a father who was a well-known minister. He was his father’s assistant in the church. In college, he excelled, forming a group for mutual discipleship that would be known as the “Holy Club.” He eventually accepted an invitation to be a missionary to the American Indians and there he utterly failed in his ministry.

As he was traveling back to London on a ship he wrote in his journal, “I went to America to convert the Indian; but, oh, who shall convert me?” Wesley realized that he knew more Bible than most Christians in the world at that time, but he was missing Christ. He wasn’t saved.

And there’s a lot of debate about these guys. You see, in Acts we are sort in the overlap of the Old Covenant and New Covenant. Until these guys encountered Paul could we have considered them ‘Old Testament believers’? Would they have been saved like Abraham, Moses, Daniel, and so on. Believing in the promises of God, but not yet knowing Christ?

I don’t know. But what I do know is this – those days are over. There is no more time of transition, we are forever under the new covenant and we must teach God’s word if anyone is ever going to be saved. We say that a lot, we nod our heads, but do we really understand that? Do we really understand that apart from trusting in Christ, people will continue on the path to hell?

And if we do understand then why do not open our mouths more to speak of Christ? Why do not treasure him as our Savior and Lord and so just bust at the seams with joy wanting to tell anyone and everyone that they can be saved by faith in him?

I was so encouraged yesterday when – well, we had a stack of NTs we were giving away. And one of our workers said, ‘I’m not waiting for them to ask for it, I just handing it to them!’ Like Paul, they understood the urgency that is needed.

We need to be able to smell the smoke of eternal condemnation on the souls of those we know are lost so that we can become impassioned to keep teaching about Christ from God’s word – keep teaching and preaching the gospel so that people everywhere might be saved!

3. Teach God’s Word to Make Disciples (19:8-10)

You see, it’s not enough to just say, ‘You’re saved – I’m off to the next person!’ That’s not God’s calling on our life is it? No, it’s make disciples.

I used to have a youth minister who was like that. He was great on being bold with the gospel – telling teens all the time of Christ. But he had no clue how to disciple anyone. And so the youth group was like a revolving door. He’d get to know someone, see them make a profession of faith, baptize them too quickly, and then he’d be done with them.

And in a few weeks they’d be gone. So on paper, the youth group was a booming, evangelistic ministry. But in reality, who knows what was happening? Were they really saved? Or had he simply gave a gospel inoculation – making them think they were saved when they really weren’t? Making them immune to the gospel? Well, that wasn’t Paul’s style. Look at what Luke says –

[Paul] entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. [9] But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. [10] This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Paul begins as he also does – “to the Jew first, then the Greek.” Here Luke tells us that he spends three months teaching God’s word in the synagogue. Three months of bolding proclaiming the kingdom God had established in Christ. Not a kingdom of armies and thrones and this world, but a spiritual kingdom where Christ reigns in the hearts of people.

But eventually some of them have had enough of the dialogue and say, “Just get out! We’re tired of the blasphemy you’re teaching about Jesus!” We know it’s about Jesus because Christianity was originally called ‘the Way.’ Why do you think that was? We don’t know for sure, but I would put my library on it being from Jesus’ teaching – he said, “I am the way, the truth, and life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

So Paul takes those that have believed and he leaves. This was not an easy thing for the Paul. As long as he was welcome in the synagogue, he had a central place to teach from. Deciding to leave means he’s got to work overtime to pay to rent a place.

Luke tells us that he rents the hall of Tyrannus. Now, we have to stop here and say this is one of those places where you wish we had more information. This guy’s name, Tyrannus, means tyrant or despot. I don’t care how bad a kids is, that’s not something you name them! So, historians think this is a nickname.

For him to have his own hall meant that he was a popular teacher with lots of paying students. But he was probably a hard-driving teacher. He didn’t just hand out A’s, he made you work hard for them. So his students called him Tyrannus – the tyrant.

However, it went, he would have taught in his hall from the early hours of morning until around lunch time then later in the evening. These would have been the coolest times of day. So, Paul would have been able to rent the place out during the hotter part of the day in the afternoon.

Now, don’t miss this – Luke says, ‘[Paul] reasoned daily in the hall of Tyrannus. [10] This continued for two years.” Can you imagine? Everyday, in the hottest part of the day. The time of day that everyone else goes home for nap (it’s like that in this part of the world by the way – we saw in Niger). But Paul says, let me teach you the word of God. More than that, he does it for two years! He’s working overtime at night to make more tents, to mend tore ones, all so he can rent out this place to teach. Why? Because he wants to make disciples.

What does Paul teach us here? Making disciples takes time. It takes sacrifice. And it takes devotion. Some of you are like me and you want to see this church grow. That happens when we not only tell others about Jesus, but we make a point of discipling them. So, the question we have to ask is this – how much time, devotion, and sacrifice are we willing to make?

If it’s only a little, then we will see only a few disciples. But if like Paul, we are willing to put other things aside. If we’re willing to endure hardship for the sake of the gospel over the long haul, then we will see many disciples in this place.

4. Teach God’s Word to Reveal His Power (19:11-16)

As Paul is spending these two years in Ephesus, as he is making disciples and growing God’s church in that city, God accompanies his ministry with a tremendous display of his power.

The Bible is full of miracles – supernatural events brought about by God. But notice Luke says – what God does in Paul’s ministry is rare even for miracles! “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul.” What could amaze Luke like this? Look at what he says,

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, [12] so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

Paul would have been working as a tent maker to support himself in the morning and the evening. And when he takes off his sweatband and apron, someone would snatch them – Paul wasn’t handing them out – and they would take them to someone’s house that was sick. And that person would get better. It’s amazing! There’s nothing like it in any of the other apostle’s ministries.

And I think the reason God worked in this way was because of the mindset of spiritual darkness that engulfed the Ephesian people. As a culture, they were steeped in sorcery and the occult. They were superstitious and obsessed with spells and witchcraft. So what we have hear should not in any way be taken as an example for us to follow.

I can remember watching religious television on a few occasions and seeing speakers – I can’t bear to call them preachers – say they had prayed over this little patch of cloth. And if you would just send them $50, they would mail you the cloth and you would be healed or get rich or whatever. And they would often proof-text this verse to support their practice.

Well, they are just charlatans. And the only reason God is doing this kind of dramatic display of his power here is because of the grip these people were in to sorcery and the like. God accommodated himself to speak on their level. Notice that the miracles did not come first to attract people. No, the teaching of God’s word came first. God blessed the preaching of his word. He validated it in a unique way in the midst of a culture that was steeped in magic and a belief in its power.

And so when the other false tried to cast out demons, they do not have much luck with it. They went around trying to cast out demons saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims . . . . But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”

What went wrong? What went wrong was their belief that the name of Jesus was like any other spell. Just invoke the name of the spirit or deity and you get what you want.

Now, let me say that you will likely never see anything like this ever happen. If you were to go to some third world, animistic culture, you might. But even then, I doubt it. But don’t let that discourage you, Christian.

Later Paul would write a letter to the Ephesians and he would tell them what he prayed for them. This is what he said –

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, [15] from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, [16] that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, [17] so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, [18] may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, [19] and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. [20] Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

So you see what he said? The same power that healed those people through handkerchiefs is at work in you, brothers and sisters! And that power is not there for you to go around doing miracles. It’s there so that you may better know Christ – that’s where the power lies. So that should be your pursuit. To be filled with the fullness of God, by asking God to grant you the power to know Christ more fully.

5. Teach God’s Word to Bring Repentance (19:17-20)

This is what happened in Ephesus. Paul had been preaching and teaching, spreading the teachings of Christ throughout the city. God’s power revealed the truthfulness of Paul’s message – he showed that what he said was true. And the result is that he people were brought to conviction of their sin; a conviction that led to repentance.

Notice here the natural progression of the Ephesians. The word of God has been proclaimed, it’s been verified with God’s power, and now Luke says, “fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.” The Ephesians came to fear God and extol – to worship – the risen Christ.

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. [19] And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. [20] So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.

The Ephesians may have been hesitant to give up their spells. They still thought there was power there. But God showed them that he alone is the Almighty. So they willingly come together – they publicly profess their foolishness, their sin of seeking power through sorcery and burn all their magic books.

The scene must have been tremendous! You know we would tried to sell our stuff on ebay or something. We’d have said I need to get rid of this because it’s keeping me from Christ, but I paid good money for it, I might as well get something back! But they said, it will keep others from Christ too, so let’s just be rid of the junk forever!

Luke says the whole thing totaled around fifty pieces of silver. A piece of silver would have been about a days wage for most day labors in Paul’s time. So Luke is saying the equivalent of almost a 137 year’s worth of wages went up in smoke that day. Can you imagine? Folks, that is the power of God on display right there.

What we have to understand is that God delights to bring about that kind of conviction of sin, that kind of repentance – of turning away from sin, or leaving in the garbage heap to feast on something better – God himself; God delights to do that through the teaching of his Word.

Conclusion

In the end, Paul shows us that a powerful, effective, God-honoring ministry. A spiritually powerful, God-honoring life is one that is centered around the word of God.

Mission: Unstoppable – More Workers for the Harvest Field (Acts 18:18-28)

More Workers for the Harvest Field

Acts 18:18-28

Introduction

Acts 18:18-28

After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. [19] And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. [20] When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. [21] But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

[22] When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. [23] After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

[24] Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. [25] He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. [26] He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. [27] And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, [28] for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

1. Thankful Heart (18:18-23)

Luke begins this section with one of those verses that make you stop and figure things out before you can move one. He says, “After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.”

Now why in the world do we need to know that he had cut his hair? One sermon I read imagined a Priscilla telling Paul, ‘Look, you can’t go back to Antioch looking like that! You’re all mangy and scruffy-looking. Go to the barbers before you head home!’

Of course, that’s not what this was about – vanity. Paul wasn’t concerned so much with his appearance. Luke helps us know this because he says he cut his hair because he was under a vow. Now we have to ask ourselves, what kind of a vow was it?

Well, from the Bible there is only one kind of vow that includes cutting one’s hair; it’s called a Nazirite vow. Nazirite simply means set apart or consecrated. So the Nazirite vow was a rite that demonstrated one’s commitment to the Lord.

In Number 6, we read that taking on this vow meant that you couldn’t get near dead bodies – even for a family funeral. You couldn’t drink any alcohol or any kind of beverage made from a grape. And specifically for our text this morning, the Lord says, “[when a man or woman takes a Nazirite vow] All the days of his vow of separation, no razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long” (6:5).

So what was all this for? Well, “you might make a [Nazirite] vow as a way of thanksgiving for an extraordinary deliverance that God had given you in the course of providence.” The Nazirite vow was a very public way of showing your gratitude and commitment to the Lord for what he had done for you. “It was saying publicly, ‘I am the Lord’s. I’m giving myself to the Lord. I don’t care who knows about it. This is something that I want the whole world to know.” With everything I am, I am the Lord’s.

But this was a temporary thing. So, as the end of the vow, your hair would be cut again. And if you were near Jerusalem, you’d take that hair and it would be ceremonially burnt in some way, and then an offering would be given.

And it looks like that is what is going on here. The question is, why did Paul take up this Nazirite vow? It’s hard to say, but I think the most natural explanation is because of what just happened in Corinth. Last week we saw that God gave Paul something of a relief from the burden and pressures of his ministry as an apostle.

Though in previous cities, he’s been beaten, jailed, and run out of town. Here, God promised him a period of restful, fruitful ministry. It’s not like he was lounging around the time. But he had a rest from the kind of suffering and persecution that usually marked his ministry. For two years Paul’s been able to go about and minister and do the things that he loves doing for the Lord, and to do so without fear of harm and danger. And I think he was giving thanks to God for that.

Furthermore, I think it should remind us of our need to be thankful to God. I’m not suggesting that we take up a Nazirite vow necessarily. If done in the right way, there wouldn’t be anything wrong with it. But since we do not live under the laws of Israel anymore, the impact would not be the same. You’d probably just draw attention to yourself instead of to God because no one would know what you were doing!

But I think there are other things we can do. First, we should cultivate a spirit of thankfulness in our own hearts. The Bible actually commands this –

1 Chron 16:34 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!” It’s not a suggestion, it’s a command. Psalm 30:4 commands God people “Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.” Psalm 97:12 commands us – “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!”

You might say that’s all in Old Testament. You’d be right – well done! But we see the same in the New Testament as well.

In Romans 1, Paul says that a mark of unrighteousness, a mark of ungodliness and wickedness is the refusal to give thanks to God. “For although they knew God, [the wicked] did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21).

Perhaps the strongest of all statements comes in 1 Thessalonians 5. There Paul says, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” What’s God will for your life – to give thanks!

One pastor I heard speak said he was feeling particularly low and couldn’t think of anything to be thankful for. So, he took a walk out in the wood and thought back to the very beginning of his life and started thanking God for things he done for him. (At least he was born!).

Secondly, like Paul we should give public testimony to God’s blessings on our lives. Again, this is the biblical pattern. Psalm 105:1 says, “Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!”

Tonight in your small groups, or this week amongst Christian friends, or even non-Christian friends, give thanks to God for what he has done for you.

2. Passionate Ministry (18:24-25)

It’s amazing in some ways that all of Paul’s traveling in the last few verses is given such scant attention. I mean, he’s traveling over 1500 miles on foot and by boat and Luke covers it all in just six verses.

I think Luke is doing this so he can swing the emphasis on the church in Ephesus since that is going to play such a hug part in Paul’s life and in the book of Acts in the next few chapters. So he does it for literary and story-telling reasons. But I also he does it because it helps us see that ministry is not about one or two high profile people.

Already in the book of Acts we’ve seen Paul enlisting others to work with him. People like Silas, Timothy, and Luke (the author of Acts). Here the same thing happens. Though apart from Paul, God raises up another servant to proclaim the gospel. Luke says, “Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.”

Apollos is an Egyptian from the great city of Alexandria. Alexandria was an incredible city. It was the home of the very large team of scholars that first translated the Hebrew Old Testament into the Greek language. That would have been the Bible for the early Christians, and really the Jews of that time as well.

Because of the prevalence of the Greek language itself, hardly anyone was reading the Hebrew versions anymore. When the New Testament writers quote from the Old Testament it is almost always from that Greek translation of the Bible.

I share that to help show that Alexandria was a center of learning in the first century. And to help you see what kind of environment Apollos came from. So you can understand why it makes sense when Luke describes him by saying,

“He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. [25] He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus,”

In his providence, God prepared Apollos for ministry through his natural upbringing. He would have gone to the nest school, had great instructors that taught him how to study, how to make an argument, and present it with power and rhetoric. And then through God’s grace, Apollos gets saved and suddenly all of that learning and experience is brought to bear on his service for Christ.

But what is the secret of Apollos’ powering ministry? What made him captivating to listen to? What caused him to see much fruit from his service to God? Luke tells us that he was fervent in Spirit. That’s not speaking of his own spirit as much as it is God’s Spirit. His passion for learning and speech are united with a fervency brought by God’s own Spirit.

That’s good news for us because it means all of us are capable of serving God in meaningful ways. All that we need is to be filled with Spirit. How does that happen? It happens we are passionate about knowing, loving, and serving God.

Now, it’s no surprise how that happens. There’s no secret tricks. There’s nothing new and special to share and write a book about. You get to know God the same way all the saints from the beginning of time have – call out to him in prayer, and hear back from him in the his word. That’s it! It’s so easy and at the same time so difficult.

It’s difficult in that we will make any excuse not to do it. And when we do start to cultivate a passion for God, it gets hard become sin starts to become more apparent in our life. We discover we’re not as well off as we thought we were. But if we will just preach the gospel to ourselves –

If we will just remind ourselves that God doesn’t accept us based on what we do, or how good we are. That God accepts us because of how good Christ is, and because he’s died to pay the penalty for our sins. If we will remind ourselves that we have put our faith in Christ to be our Savior, that we are forgiven by God’s grace.

Then seeing our sin will not produce terrible guilt or angst, it will simply drive back to the cross where will find grace and forgiveness and life, and our life will closer and closer to God. And we will find ourselves longing for the fullness of his Spirit in our lives, and we will find God providing it.

All of this will lead us to passionate ministry. It will lead us to a fearless devotion to do whatever God wants, whenever he wants.

3. Loving Encouragement (18:26-28)

Let me say that I didn’t really want to use that title for this section. I was thinking back over several of the other messages we had from Acts and realized that this idea of encouragement comes up a lot. I tried thinking of another words to use, but in the end, this really is the best word. And even though it has come up a lot, that should not make us any less attentive to its place here in our passage.

Encouragement can take on many different forms – there’s lots of ways to encourage one another. But more than that, if God is putting repeated emphasis on something, we should probably stand up and take notice!

If you were paying attention earlier when we read the passage you know that as great as our brother Apollos was, there was a problem wasn’t there? Luke says, “He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.”

There’s a deficiency in Apollos understanding of things. He was a great and powerful preacher, mightily used by God. But as this couple, Aquila and Priscilla, are listening to him in the synagogue they notice, there’s something not quite right.

Some commentators say the problem was that Apollos wasn’t yet saved. I think that’s reading the next chapter back into this one too much. I think Luke makes it clear that’s saved – he’s put his faith in Christ. Luke says he had been instructed in the way of the Lord and spoke and taught accurately about Jesus. He’s filled with a fervency from God’s Spirit.

The problem is about his understanding of baptism. Somehow and frankly, we don’t know how it happened; perhaps he was in Jerusalem for the Passover or something. However it happened, he had heard about the ministry of John the Baptist. He heard about his call to repentance; for God’s people to prepare themselves for the coming Messiah.

And then he had heard about Jesus. Notice, Luke doesn’t say that Apollos is speaking about the Messiah generically, he know that Jesus was the Christ. But he hasn’t got the whole message. He hasn’t heard about the command of the risen Christ for his disciples to be baptized in his name. To be baptized outwardly as a sign of our spiritual union with him.

Priscilla and Aquila figure this out. So what are they going to do? Well, if it were some of the church members I have known in my lifetime, I know exactly what would have happened. It would have a condescending confrontation at the backdoor, or an arrogant letter. It would have been a snickering, ‘Don’t you know about Christian baptism?’

Thankfully, those members weren’t there, though. Instead, Apollos got this wonderful couple, Priscilla and Aquila. What do they do? They come with humility and grace and kindness. Luke says, “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

They didn’t hit him with both barrels offering hard-hitting criticism. They weren’t trying to put him down. They wanted to encourage him. They have him over for dinner, and share the truth in a way that does just that. In a way that doesn’t lead to ruffled feathers or hurt feelings on the part of Apollos. But in a way that lends itself to Apollos being open to correction and desiring to get things as right as possible.

It reminds of a story from church history. One of the heroes of the Reformation in England was a man named Hugh Latimer. But before he had earned that epitaph, he was simply Bishop Latimer of the Catholic Church. Even still, he was a learned man – he knew the Bible in and out, and he could speak with eloquence. He was very much like Apollos in that regard. However, he wasn’t a Christian.

And there was another monk who knew and respected Latimer – a man named Thomas Bilney. No one thought much of Bilney, but he was a Christian; he knew the gospel. And he used to think, ‘How can I share the gospel with Latimer without offending him?’ So, he used to go to him and say, ‘I want to confess my sins.’

Latimer of course obliged and as Bilney made this confession, he preached the gospel to Latimer. And after several of these evangelistic confessionals, Latimer came to faith in Christ. So powerful was Latimer’s faith that what ministry he had before took off with renewed passion and spiritual vigor.

In fact, Latimer was martyred for his faith. He was burned at the stake with a man named Nicholas Ridley. And just as the men are coming with the torches, Ridley begins to get scared. So Latimer looks over and says to him, “Be brave, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day, by the grace of God, light such a candle in England as, I trust, shall never be put out.”

What an amazing testimony! And it was because a little monk no one ever thought about – Little Bilney – had taken it upon himself to encourage this great man in his ministry. To gently, humble, prayerfully put him on the right course.

That’s the kind of thing Priscilla and Aquila did. And what was the result? Encouragement for the whole church! Luke says Apollos is sent out to Achaia and “When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”

The key word in that sentence is the word ‘for.’ Look at it again – “[Apollos] greatly helped those who through grace had believed” – he great helped, encouraged the Christians there; how? Luke says, “for [because] he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”

So here’s the picture Luke gives us . . . . Apollos is out in public preaching. He’s declaring that Jesus is the Christ, he’s the promised Savior of the Jews and Gentiles. And the Jews are taking exception to that message. They’re saying, ‘No, he couldn’t possibly be the Messiah!’

But then Apollos is coming back at them with Scripture. Passage after passage, text after text, promise after glorious promise, he is showing them that they’re wrong. Apollos is showing from God’s word that, yes, Jesus is the Messiah, he is the long-awaited Savior.

Not only are people getting saved, but Luke says it’s encouraging the Christians! They are being greatly helped, he says. The church is being reassured in their faith. They are gaining confidence to share the gospel themselves. They are seeing people come to accept Christ as savior. It’s absolutely glorious!