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I’m going to invite you to Acts chapter 18 is where we’re going to be together today, at the end of the chapter 18 of the book of Acts and the reason we’re ending in such a unique spot, this is really the last six verses of chapter 18, is because this is where Paul begins his third missionary journey. And so we’ve we’ve looked at this together in the book of Acts that Paul has gone on three missionary journeys. This is the last of his journeys that are recorded in the book of Acts. Paul goes on more journeys after the book of Acts concludes, but we have three of those stories unfolding in the book of Acts and how the the Spirit of God worked in the people of God to accomplish the will of God. How the gospel went from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. And we’re seeing this primarily now through the journeys that the Apostle Paul has taken. And because I like maps, and there’s a little bit of nerd inside of all of us, I’m going to throw this up on the screen and just let you see where where Paul went on his his third missionary journey. And look at this. We’re going to take the nerd level up a bit when I use the laser clicker. He’s. As you’re familiar. The church started in Jerusalem and it quickly went to Antioch of Syria, which is where the Apostle Paul was when he goes on his missionary journeys.
Antioch of Assyria is a very influential city in that it’s it’s the second or third largest city in the Roman Empire in the first century, when the Apostle Paul is there and it’s from the church in Antioch, Paul launches out. Now, when Paul goes on his three missionary journeys, one of the things I think that is important to remember about his third journey is he really doesn’t visit anywhere new. Everywhere he went on his first and second journey, he now revisits on his third journey, the only city that we could really argue he may have have stopped at on his third missionary journey would be the city of Ephesus. And the reason I say we could argue it is because he actually stopped there at the very end of his second missionary journey, and he spent just a very brief amount of time there before he left. And so he tells the people, if the Lord would lead me back, I’ll come back to. To Ephesus. And on his third missionary journey, he does in the city of Ephesus is right up in, in this area. And so Paul goes to Ephesus and he shares the gospel, and he spends a longer amount of time here than really any other city that he went to in all of his missionary journeys. So. So he’s in Ephesus for over two years ministering to the people.
And so the apostle Paul we’re seeing on this journey, he’s he’s really gone around the world to, to to let people know exactly what Jesus has done for them because he’s experienced what Christ has done, not just in seeing the resurrected Christ, which he did, but also finding the forgiveness of Christ in his own life, which Paul certainly needed it. As you look at the Apostle Paul’s life, we’ve studied this together, that that he became one who persecuted Christians to the point of even killing Christians. And then his life is radically transformed in Jesus. And now he goes around the world declaring that with other people. Now, as we look at the story of Acts unfolding. One of the things that I think is important, just as a as a Bible student for you to know, is when you read the Bible, you pick it up. Your Bible is not written in chronological order. I think a lot of people pick up the Bible expecting that. It just kind of follows a timeline and it doesn’t. Your Bible is put together according to literary genre, like if you, for example, picked up the the New Testament. The Book of Matthew is not the first book written, although the New Testament certainly starts with the story of Jesus. But what you discover when you read the book of Matthew is at the beginning of your New Testament. You had the first the four gospels that that literary genre of the Gospels starts the New Testament.
Then you have the book of Acts, which is a historical book of the early church, of how the Spirit of God worked in the people of God to accomplish the will of God. Then, after the book of Acts, you have the letters we call epistles. The first letters you come to are the 13 that Paul wrote, and then the last half are what are general epistles that are written by several different authors. And then you end the book of or excuse me, you in the New Testament with the crazy book, right? The book of revelation. Or everyone scratching their heads and wonders what in the world is going on here? But that’s that’s how your Bible is comprised. Now, as we’ve studied the book of Acts together, one of the things I’ve tried to highlight for us is we’ve read is when each book of the New Testament was actually written. Acts chapter 12. I told you that was the time period of the book of James. One of the reasons. One of the reasons I think that’s important to know is that when you read these letters, you begin to discover what was actually happening in the time period of which that letter was written. So you see, in the context of Acts, how the book of James was formulated, Acts chapter 12. And then we saw in Acts chapter 15 how the book of of Galatians was written, what was driving the writing of Galatians.
And then on Paul’s second missionary journey you you have written the book of first and second Thessalonians. After Paul had to abruptly leave the city of Thessalonica. As he journeyed down to Corinth. He writes these two letters. And now, when? When Paul’s going on his third missionary journeys, this is when he writes the book of first and second Corinthians and the book of Romans. And so when you look at the the formation of the New Testament, we’re discovering how Paul has written six of his 13 letters. Now, after Paul is arrested and eventually he’s taken to prison in Rome, this is where he writes four more books. I’m telling you this now because I might forget down the road, but. But after this missionary journey, Paul’s arrested, and during that time he writes four books. He writes Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. And then after he’s his time in prison in Rome, once he’s released, he finds himself in prison again. But during that time period, after the book of Acts concludes, he writes his three final letters, which is first and second, Timothy and Titus. So it gives you a little bit of idea of of how the New Testament is formulated. But Paul’s intention in all of this is to help the world discover the the transforming experience that he had in Jesus, knowing that the gift of God’s grace that he received is intended for other people to to freely receive it as well.
And so as we we look at this particular section of the book of Acts today, this is what we want to discuss together is the the life changing opportunity. Not only that, Jesus gives us that we could experience, that we also have the opportunity to help other people to to discover in Jesus as well, to give other people the opportunity to find that life transforming power in the Lord. And I can’t think of of nothing more important to share with us on a day like today than that. I’m not. Unless you’ve you’ve lived with your head in the sand over the weekend. Like we’re reminded at times like this how frail life can be. And sometimes we despair. Sometimes we worry. But can I tell you the way that God has called you to move in this world is confidently, boldly in his power, because we know that no matter what happens, what we have in Jesus lasts forever. And the greatest gift that you have to offer in this world is what Christ gives to you. And the greatest gift that you should own as a believer is what you have in Jesus. And so what we do in this room this morning matters not just for our sake, but for the sake of the world around us. And so looking at this, this life changing opportunity, this is why the apostle Paul is going to the extent where he’s traveling to places where it’s unsafe.
He’s carrying burdens that aren’t necessarily his own for the sake of others because of what Jesus has done in him. And so what does it look like for us as as we see the Apostle Paul’s story unfold? What does it look like for us to participate in a in a similar way, having our lives transformed in the Lord? Well, number one is this it’s got to start with identifying the need that we would identify the need. And this is how you see the the book of Aacts unfolding with these, these stories of these cities, that they’re more than just cities. There are places where people live that have tremendous need. And so the apostle Paul, he’s going on on these journeys. Now, as I get ready to read this passage, I want you to know we’re going to actually read about two figures. We’re going to read about a man named Apollos, and we’re going to read about the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 18, verse 23 to the end of the book, or, excuse me, the end of chapter 18. You read primarily about Apollos, and then in chapter 19, we’re going to read about Apostle Paul. And I’m going to share these stories in a way that just look, looks at them comparatively together to see how they parallel.
And so in Acts chapter 18, verse 23, it starts this way after spending some time in Antioch, Syria, which I showed you on the map, he Paul departed and he went from one place to the next to the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures. Now there’s sharing names and all sorts of places, which can get confusing sometimes, but. But a couple of things I want you to see here when it talks about Paul going from Antioch, Syria, into the regions of Galatia and Phrygia. Paul had already gone here on his first missionary journey, but instead of referring to them as regions or providences, we referred to them by the individual cities within those providences where we read about Lystra, Iconium and Derby. But now, rather than refer to those particular cities, now we’re referring to them in terms of regions. And I think the reason that Luke is doing this, in this, in this verse is because he’s saying to us not only as the church reached the city, but now it’s expanded beyond the city. They’ve taken the gospel beyond that particular place where God, where Paul first ministered, which is incredible to think about. But now the apostle Paul, going back now to this region, he’s just he’s he’s just encouraging the church no matter where they find themselves in that area of Galatia or Phrygia, not just in those particular cities.
And then we read about this individual named Apollos from Alexandria, who is now ministering in Ephesus. Paul hasn’t quite got to that city yet, but there’s a man named Apollos who is in that city, and he’s ministering to people in the Lord. And then when you flip over to chapter 19, it says, like this, verse one. And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found the disciples. So Apollos, ministering in Ephesus, then went to Corinth, and Paul ministering. And in Galatia, Phrygia, those regions, he now comes to the city of Ephesus, and he ministers. Now one of the things I want to highlight about these particular towns that Paul is sharing about with us is just how impactful this would be in the Roman Empire, because when you look at the early cities and first century Rome, Antioch, Syria, we already talked about where Paul’s from. This is the second or third largest city in the Roman Empire. The other city that people contest might be the second or third largest is the city of of Alexandria in Egypt. So, so Apollos and Paul are coming from the second and third largest cities in the Roman Empire. And now they both traveled to the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire, which is Ephesus.
And Paul’s desire is to ultimately get to the largest city in the Roman Empire, which is Rome. Corinth, as well mentioned here is another significant city. The reason I think this is important is when you look at the early church, what they’re doing is they’re saying, where can I go to make the biggest impact for the gospel? Where has God put me and what has God given me to to reach certain places for his glory? And they just have this willingness to go there. Now, looking at that, I’m not saying to you this morning and so everyone, it’s time to rent a moving truck. Right. What I’m saying is God also has you in places in this world to make a difference. And sometimes we just don’t take those opportunities that God gives to us. But but if we want to see a world that’s changed and transformed in the glory of God, it is necessary for us to to first see the the need in our own heart and in maturing in our own walk with Jesus. As Jesus grows us in him, that we would impart to others what we possess in the Lord. So it’s great to see the need, but just seeing the brokenness isn’t enough, right? You’ve got to see your own life growing in the strength of who God is, so that when you encounter that need, you have something to pour out of you because of what Christ has poured into you.
And this has been the life of certainly the apostle Paul. And this is what we’re beginning to learn about the life of Apollos. Both of these individuals have found their lives enriched in the Lord. As we looked at Paul and his days in Antioch of Syria, he spent a decade in that church before he was called out of that church to go minister well beyond that city. But but even as as the Lord was maturing him, he was still pouring in the lives of others as he was growing within that community. Maybe the question for us this morning is to consider in your own life, how how are you doing in sharing what the Lord is filling up in you? Or maybe we should just simply ask, do you take the time to let Jesus pour into you so that the Lord could pour out of you the greatness of who he is? Seeing the the need around us is recognizing that man. Our lives have had this beautiful blessing of of the wealth of Christ, and God desires to use that, that I would share his glory in this world. I love the way. If you ever take time to read Isaiah chapter six, how Isaiah walks through that Isaiah chapter six. If you remember the famous question asked in Isaiah six verse eight and nine, the Lord says, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And then Isaiah responds, here am I, Lord, send me.
It’s a beautiful response. And look at that question. It leads you to ask, what what provoked Isaiah to do that? What would lead a heart to to to react that way to the Lord? And if you just back up to the very beginning of Isaiah chapter six, you start to see it unfold, that Isaiah experiences the glory of who God is. And in the midst of that, he also recognizes his sinfulness. He says in verse five, woe is me, for I am a dead man, and I dwell amongst of a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the holiness of God, And then it tells us in that story that God sends one of his angels to take from off the altar a burning coal, and he takes it down to Isaiah. And he touches his, touches his lips with it, the part that Isaiah claimed was unclean. And in those moments God forgives Isaiah. And so the radical forgiveness of this holy God that Isaiah is compelled to go into this world. But one of the things I love about that story is that when Isaiah acknowledges who he is, he doesn’t do it separate from his people, but with his people. Isaiah is a holy man. And if you’re going to look at anybody and say, well, if someone’s got it all together, it’s Isaiah. You know, he’s above us.
But that’s not what Isaiah does at all. He says, I am an unclean man, and I dwell in the midst of a people who are unclean. He identifies himself with the brokenness of life around him, that he wouldn’t think higher of himself than others or looked down upon people. But to see the need and the place that God has put him in. So number one is identify the need. I love one of the there’s a worship song called Hosanna. It’s got my favorite line in it of any worship song. It says it like this. Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours. Everything I am for your kingdom’s cause. You know, having that kind of outlook in life only happens by spending time with the Lord to know what his heart is about, and then sharing in his heart. If we start to identify the need, it should bring us to to point number two, which is this surrender to the transformation. Surrender to the transformation that God wants to do in you, but also the transformation that God wants to bring to the people around you. And you see this again in these passages that parallel between Apollos and Paul when it says it like this. He Apollos, had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, which is all wonderful things, right? He’s been taught the way of the Lord.
And I hope that’s true for all of us. And and then he’s got this passion and the spirit because of what God’s done in him. He’s fervent that way. He wants other people to experience it. And he teaches accurately the things of Jesus, which is fantastic, because if you spend any amount of time in this world and you ask people you know about Jesus, you find out there are a lot of weird thoughts people have about Jesus. And just because you call him Jesus doesn’t make him the real Jesus, right? Like every religion in the world has something to say about Jesus. And then when you look at the Bible, you’re like, wait a minute. The Jesus you’re describing is not the Jesus in the Bible. There is a disconnect here somewhere, right? And so who Jesus is is important. And it’s telling us that Apollos, he’s teaching accurately the things he knows about Jesus. But then it says something interesting. It says, though he knew only the baptism of John. What a weird statement, right? Then verse 26, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately, I love that. Here’s what it’s saying is like really? Apollos learned under the teaching of John the Baptist, and he got so pumped about it, he started going around the world telling people about it, and he forgot to wait till the Messiah actually came.
Right? Like, he’s like, what John’s saying is so good, right? And he and he leaves and he goes, tells people about this. And now and now when they show up and they meet Apollos, they’re like, he’s teaching things accurately. But it’s like he didn’t even know Jesus came, right? He’s like, he knows that there’s a messiah coming. John told him that, but he actually didn’t meet the Jesus, right? So so they they pull him aside and they explained to him further. And Apollos, he responds in a tremendous way, very humbled. He embraces it. And now that he’s learned more, he just continues to impart even greater. And it’s the same for us. Like on our faith journey, you don’t have to wait till you’re perfect in theology to go tell everybody about Jesus. It’s saying this what you learn in Christ. Just start to share that with people. This is not a this is not about being professionals and representing Christ in this world. This is about just simply taking what Jesus has done in me and sharing it with other people. And this is what Apollos has done, and it tells us about this through this really unique thing called the baptism of John. Right? You learn about it a little bit in the gospel, and then John got his head lopped off, and then nothing else is talked about it until you get to this, this one unique passage in the in the book of Acts where it talks about John’s baptism again.
But then you find out, you read a little further on. That thought pops up again in verse two. It says, and he Paul said to them, the believers in Ephesians, the followers of the Lord in Ephesus, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Now that’s an important statement. Alright. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? I want you to take that thought for a minute and just lock it away because I’m going to come back to it, okay? And they said, now, no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit that’s a problem. And he said into what were you baptized? And here it comes again, they said, into John’s baptism. And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance. That’s important. He’s qualifying. What kind of baptism? John’s baptism was telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him. That is Jesus. On hearing this, look at this. They were rebaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. I get asked that question a lot. Should I be rebaptized? And let me just tell you let me just tell you in a very simplistic way, if your first baptism was messed up, then your second baptism should happen, right? And we’ll talk about what that means in a minute.
I’ll break that down. But but they get rebaptized. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. They were about 12 men in all. Now I want to explain, really, two big thoughts in this section of Scripture that are important for us. I want to talk about the significance of baptism, what that means, and then I want to talk about whatever this the Holy Spirit thoughts are in verse two and verse six, because some people take some, some theological ideas from this section, and they run with it in some wild ways. And I just want us to walk truthfully in God’s Word. So I want to explain a couple things to us in that. But when you look at baptism in this passage, you find that there’s mentioned John’s baptism and there’s Jesus’s baptism. And one of the things I have found people do with this passage is Paul is certainly saying that whatever John’s baptism was, it is not as significant as as what Jesus’s baptism is and what Jesus’s baptism represents for us. And in seeing that some people will just blow by it, they’ll be like, oh, well, you know, there’s John’s baptism. But since since Jesus baptism is more important, who cares? Whatever John’s baptism is a baptism of repentance. Let’s just go to Jesus’s baptism, right? And I think that is critical to understand Jesus, the baptism in Christ.
But but to just jump to that and move quickly past John’s baptism, I think skip something incredible that John is is teaching his followers in the first century. Now, by this point, John’s dead. But I think it’s important to understand what what baptism is about in Scripture broadly, and then specifically what John’s baptism is, and then more specifically Jesus’s. When you think about baptism in the Bible, the idea of baptism really begins from the beginning of Scripture meaning in the book of Genesis when God creates the earth, it tells us that the earth is covered without form and it’s void. It’s not living it’s purpose, it’s chaotic because all this water is covered it and out of the water. God brings order out of the chaos. God brings beauty, and there’s land and there’s creatures and humanity, the crown of his creation. And so out of chaos, order. And then as you start to read through the book of Genesis, you see the flood of Noah, and it’s through the chaos of the waters that God saves the family of Noah, bringing them through. And then when you get to the book of Exodus, you find the children of Israel are enslaved in Egypt, and and God sets them free. But the Egyptian army pursues after them, and they find themselves cornered at the Red sea, and they’re crying out to the Lord.
And God splits the waters, and they walk through the waters of baptism to the other side safely. And the Egyptian army tries to pursue them, and they’re crushed by, by, by the power of God. And they’re brought into what’s called the the years of wandering before they get to the Promised Land. And after 40 years of unfaithfulness, when that generation dies off, God allows the next generation to go into the Promised Land all that God is promising them. And they come to the Jordan River. And again, God parts the river and they walk across. And then when you get to the New Testament, there’s the baptism of John. And after the baptism of John, there’s the baptism of Jesus. Matthew 28 Jesus tells us, go into the world and baptize in the name of the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Now when you look at baptism very broadly throughout the Bible, one of the things that it symbolizes for us is how God takes us from this place of chaos to this place of order, this place of darkness, to this place of light, this place of despair, to this place of hope and a future. It’s very symbolic of what it means to leave behind the old life apart from the Lord, and walk in the new life because of the Lord. Now why does John baptize? Interesting. It only happened for a unique period of time.
And more specifically, we should ask the question why the Jordan River? Like, why didn’t John just pick the closest water? Why did he have to go to the Jordan? And it was very significant for the children of Israel and the preparation of the Messiah. To understand why John was choosing to do what he was doing in this baptism of repentance. When the children of Israel first crossed the Jordan River onto the side of the Promised Land, they left behind the slavery of Egypt, and they’re walking into the promises of God. If you read the Old Testament, what you discover is they never faithfully followed as a people. Now John knows the Messiah is coming. And what he’s saying is, guys, we we have fumbled and we have fallen all over ourselves, stepping into the promises God’s given us. But now comes the moment we’ve all been waiting for and our hearts aren’t ready. And so he calls people back to that very river as if to say, we’re going to do it right. We’re going to surrender our hearts to who the Lord is. And look, this is very important that even even in coming to a baptism of repentance. I want you to know that when it comes to baptism, baptism is not a religious work for your salvation. In fact, baptism does not save you. This is why even when John was going to the river of baptisms, when when the religious leaders were coming to to the waters to see what John was doing, John was very critical to them, because it’s not about this religious performance.
It’s about the posture of your heart before a holy God and whether or not your life is truly received him. One of the things that I love about the the baptism of John is it reminds us, as individuals and even collectively, how we’re just capable of messing up time and time again. But God always gives us a place to come back, to reset, to renew myself in the wealth of who he is because his mercies are new every morning. And that’s why John’s calling people to the river. Because we’ve messed up. But we need the Lord. And this is why, why, why, John said, prepare the way of the Lord. Repent. And in Matthew chapter three verse two, for the kingdom of God is at hand. This is why John said in John chapter one verse 27, I am not worthy to untie the the laces of his sandals. He wants us to understand the significance of who Christ is. And I would even say this for you and for me, that I think in our own faith journey, it is critical to have a place that we can look back to that we know was the moment that was going to define who we are in every step we took moving forward. And for John coming back to that Jordan River, that’s what it represented.
Like we got it wrong in the past. But but for you this moment, this is going to be the marker of who you are in your identity in the Lord as your heart awaits for his arrival. So this repentance was just turning back to him to receive who Christ was. Now, when it comes to the New Testament and the baptism of Jesus. Again, I would reiterate baptism is not what saves you. In fact, it tells you in first Corinthians chapter one, Paul says it like this. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. Here’s what Paul’s saying I came to preach the gospel. The gospel is not baptism. And the reason the gospel is not baptism is because the gospel is not what saves. And he tells you what saves at the very end because he says, if we emphasize this, this idea of baptism over the gospel, we lose sight of what the power, where the power is truly found and it’s through the cross of Christ. Your salvation happens in the name of Jesus because of what Jesus has done for you on the cross, Jesus paid for you fully. So. So Paul is emphasizing the significance of the gospel and you receiving what Jesus has done on your behalf of the cross.
Now, baptism has a beautiful place in this. What is the place of baptism if it’s not for your salvation, but for the life of the believer. It’s the public declaration of the salvation you’ve received in Christ. It’s your proclamation of your desire to follow him. And it’s symbolic of everything that Jesus has done for you and now your identity rooted in him. For us, it’s representation of the covenant, the new covenant in Christ. It’s similar to a Christian wedding day, like when when two believers in Christ come together and their union in Jesus, they they they come in this, this covenant relationship of marriage. And when a marriage ceremony is performed. Look, that couple in their hearts have surrendered themselves to one another. But now publicly, they’re helping and allowing other people to participate in the work that God has done in bringing them together. And so they share those vows of commitment. For for Christian, a baptism is much like that wedding day. It’s this public declaration and the beauty of what Jesus has done for us. In fact, in Romans chapter six. It describes for us that life in Christ. It says, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried there for 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 the newness of life.
I mean, the the whole picture of baptism is you go into the water, your old self, and you go under the water and come out of the water, representing the new self that you have in Christ. That covenant in the Lord. So it’s this public declaration of what God has done, really a defining moment of saying to the world, this is what I’m about. And even more personal than that, it’s this place of sacred worship between you and the Lord Saying, God, you belong to me and I belong to you. My life this day forward is about your glory being made known. Now, some people may ask the question, you know, I was baptized at certain points in my life, and and it wasn’t really this exact reason. Should I be rebaptized? And I would say yes. And the reason for that is sometimes we’re taught that baptism is necessary in order to have salvation. Or sometimes you didn’t even really have a choice. You were just told that’s what you’re supposed to do. But in Christianity, it’s this free decision of saying, no, this is who I am, and this is what I want to be about. And so for us, it becomes the sacred place of worship among God’s community to publicly profess our desire to want to follow Jesus, that we would continue on that journey of transformation in Christ, that as God does his work in me, that God would also do his work through me as I desire to honor him in this world.
Life changing opportunity and identifying the need in surrendering to the transformation. And as as Paul is sharing this with the church of Ephesus, he says something unique. And this is worth highlighting for us simply because I find people, people sometimes will read this and then do some strange things with it. And in verse two it says this. Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And and then in verse six it says, But the Holy Spirit really comes upon them when Paul lays his hands on him. And we should ask the question like, which is it? Like, do you get the Holy Spirit when you believe, or do you get the Holy Spirit when someone lays hands on you? And and I want you to know that this is a narrative in the Bible. Right? And it’s different than, say, like you read a New Testament epistle, new Testament epistle is really laying out for the church. This is what it looks like, and this is what you should do in following Jesus in a narrative. Sometimes they’re just sharing with us the story and it’s not telling you. And this is what you’re supposed to repeat. Because if you look at at verse two and verse six, you might think, well, it’s telling me to do two different things like I believe and get the spirit or hands on me and get the spirit.
Which is it? What I want you to know in the book of Acts, three times in Acts, there’s something unique that happens in Acts chapter eight. This is in your notes, by the way. If you if you got a paper note, it’s in the box at the bottom. If you if you’ve got that and it’s just listed in point number two if you’ve got the digital notes. But in Acts chapter eight, Acts chapter ten, in Acts chapter 19, something unique happens. And the unique thing that happens is that there’s a delay in the Holy Spirit coming on. People. The question we should ask is why? Why is that delay there? Well, if you look in Acts chapter eight, it’s because the Holy Spirit is coming to the Samaritans and for the Jewish people. They were suspect of the Samaritans and their mind. They would be wondering, can the Samaritans really receive the Holy Spirit? And then in Acts chapter ten, it was the same thing, but this time it’s the Gentiles. And as the Jewish people were ministering among the Gentiles, they’re going to ask the question, Can the Holy Spirit really come upon the Gentiles? And now in Ephesus, you’ve got this unique little church that’s been formed under the baptism of John. It’s like its own own little sect of of somewhat following the Lord, but not truly Christian yet.
And it’s understanding. And then there’s the delay in the coming of the Holy Spirit. Now, why is there a delay? And is this the norm? And I would say it’s not. And let me just tell you the reason that there’s a delay in the coming of the spirit in Acts chapter eight. Acts chapter ten. Acts chapter 19 is because the intention of it is to unite God’s people as one church in Samaria. If, if if the if the Holy Spirit just instantly came upon the Samaritans, then then the church could have been left thinking, well, there’s the church in Jerusalem for the Jews. And then there’s the church in Samaria for the Samaritans. And we’re kind of a separate group of people. But when the apostles went into Samaria, seeing they received Jesus, they laid hands on him, and the Holy Spirit came upon him. And because the apostles were there participating in that, it’s showing a unified church. Acts chapter ten. With the Gentiles. It was the same thing rather than a Gentile church and a Jewish church. It’s one church in Jesus. And now in Acts chapter 19, it’s it’s the same thing again. Here’s this group of John the Baptist people. And and now the apostles come in and he’s showing them that this is one church in the Lord together, serving him. Now, the reason I say all that is so that when you read verse two and he asks the question, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? I want you to know that is how the Spirit of God works.
In fact, when you look throughout the New Testament and the role of the Holy Spirit, it tells you as a believer, the moment you trust in Jesus, there are things promised to you by the power of the spirit that you receive instantly. You’re immediately baptized in the spirit. Anyone that’s in Christ is baptized in the body of Christ. You belong to him. That word baptized literally means immersed when you read it in the New Testament, sometimes you ask the question, is this talking about water baptism? Or is this talking about the spirit baptism? Because the word baptism just simply means immersed and the context matters as to what we’re talking about. So don’t just assume you read the word baptism, you’re talking about getting dunked in water. But it could literally be the Holy Spirit coming into your life. And then it tells you that the spirit indwells you. It makes its home in you, which is saying to you. This is why as Christians, we don’t build temples because you’ve become the temple wherever you go. That’s where the presence of God is. And not only that, you’re sealed in that spirit, meaning you belong to the Lord forever. Now some people, sometimes people ask me a question.
Well, I just said, did I just lose my salvation? And I would just tell you, that’s not possible because you’re sealed in the spirit to your day of redemption. Look, I would even ask maybe further, did you do anything to earn your salvation? No. Then do you expect that you’re going to do anything to keep your salvation? No. It rests in the hands of the Lord. Now, that doesn’t mean you go and dishonor God, but it rests in the hands of the Lord. You’re sealed. You belong to him. You’re adopted. It tells you, and you’re regenerated. You have new life. And then there’s certain works of the spirit that I think are important to understand, that do impact us in an ongoing way. Meaning, the Bible commands you as believers to be filled with the spirit, and the reason it commands you is because we’re not always filled with the spirit. You ever been out with one of your friends, and if it has, you don’t have to tell me this. I don’t want to know. But they call themselves Christian, and then the next thing they do is like one of the most embarrassing public things you’ve ever seen a Christian say that they do after they call themselves Christians. And you’re like, oh my gosh, stop telling people this, right? Like, this is not good. I don’t want I don’t I don’t want to be associated with. This is embarrassing, right.
You would say that is not being filled with the spirit. And so God calls us as people to be filled with with the spirit. I know that no one here at ABC has ever done that, by the way, so that’s good. Unless it’s in traffic, then it’s forgiven. We’re called not to be filled with the spirit. Don’t quench the spirit. Meaning the Spirit of God wants to work in your life or to walk in the spirit. This is again about being surrendered to the spirit. Don’t grieve the spirit. And this is this is living contrary to how the Holy Spirit wants to to work in our lives. God desires to do the transforming work in us. Some of it he does instantly as we’re in him. And then there’s parts of our lives we continue to learn and grow as we surrender to him. So that number three, let me give you the last point. We can get involved. We can get involved. I gotta say this quickly because we’re going to run out of time. But if I just kind of encapsulate this idea, I would say it like this. Love always moves to responsibility because love is a verb. Sometimes as Christians, we can sit on the sidelines and claim, well, we’re just keep keeping peace. But can I just tell you, keeping peace can sometimes be a lame excuse of of remaining passive. There is some wisdom sometimes in discerning how to best engage, but God has called us to to be strong in him, to not fear in him, to be bold in him.
And this is why the Apostle Paul is going on these journeys, not because his eyes are on the world, but because his eyes are on the Lord. And with Apollos and Paul, if I just parallel these passages together in Acts chapter 18, it says, and when Paul, when he Apollos, wished to cross to Achaea, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him and the body of Christ. Just inspired by that, when we arrived, we we greatly help those who through grace had believed. For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus. So here’s Paul. He’s going to the region of Achaea. He’s ministering in the city of Corinth. And he’s he’s involved because he wants to see the work of God going around the world, even for the Apostle Paul. It says in verse eight, he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued 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 in verse ten. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks, and think how incredible this is.
The entire region of Asia, which at this point was in the continent, it was a province, but all of that region. Here’s the gospel. This church is ignited for the Lord. In fact, if you ask me, man, what was what was the most influential church in the first century? It certainly Jerusalem was an influential church, certainly Antioch of Syria, because they sent the Apostle Paul a missionary journeys. But I think by the mid to the end of the first century, the most influential church in all of the New Testament was the church of Ephesus. This is where the Apostle John was. This is where Jesus’s mother is said to have ended her days. This is where Paul writes to to Timothy, who was pastoring this church here, a lot of, I’ll say, heavy hitters for the sake of the gospel. We’re in the city of Ephesus and the church of Ephesus, very influential in this area of the world. Why? Because they weren’t ashamed of their god. And they knew the God that they believed in was far greater than any problem this world would throw at them. Which? Which leads me to this. If you’ve ever read Chronicles of Narnia, one particular story, The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, I realizing I was going to share this story, I kept laughing in my head because I have to tell you that in this, there’s this particular moment in the story where the children are talking to animals, which feels weird to say out loud.
Here we are as adults talking about kids talking to animals. But but the children were talking to Mr. and Mrs. Beaver in this story, and they asked an interesting question, because they’ve heard that there’s one who promises them great things, and they find out that this one is a lion. And one of the girls asks the question, is he safe? Is he safe? Because they know automatically if they’re going to meet this lion who’s promising great things, that this lion is also powerful. And if you ever thought about meeting a lion. Someone told you one of the first things you’re going to wonder is, are you so sure that I can meet this lion? I’m meeting him. Hungry or full? Which one is this? Right. That’s what she wants to know. And? And the animals respond this way. They said safe. Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the king, I tell you guys. Can I tell you more than anything in this world, a God that we need is not a God who’s safe, but a God who’s great, and a God who’s good and a God who’s powerful. And that is the God you follow. And when our lives rest in him, we move as people of tremendous hope because of who Christ is.