"A Study of the book of Acts" by Hiram Kemp - Part 10

All right, good morning. If you got your Bible, go ahead and turn it to

Acts 18. We're looking at challenges the church will always face,

and today we're going to look at 4 challenges, hopefully. 2 from

chapter 18, 1 from 19, and then 2

in 20, so 4. They'll overlap though, but thanks for being

in this class this quarter as we looked at various challenges the church will always

face. Today we're going to deal with several. One of them, the first one,

deals with a person and with a sort of personality issue. And let

me just start by saying, sometimes we place what I call a halo effect

on Bible characters, and we do this really to our own detriment. And so,

the halo effect is basically where you look at a Bible character,

somebody you know, you appreciate what they've done in the Bible— Esther,

Ruth, Abraham, David— and you just kind of think everything

they did was always right. They never had any problems. They never had

any struggles, even though the Bible says the opposite, like Romans 3:23.

Romans 3:23

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Or 1

1 Corinthians 10:13

Corinthians 10:13, the Bible says, there's no temptation that's overtaken

you but that which is common to everybody. So everybody has sins and temptations,

but everybody also just has regular human weaknesses.

James 5:17, James says, Elijah was a man just

James 5:17

like us. So the Bible is often trying to emphasize to us that the people

we're reading about were very human. Just like we are in all

of the ways. And when we put the halo effect on somebody, we dehumanize

them and we even do it to our own detriment. In effect, we do this

with a lot of people, but maybe nobody more than who?

Paul. So much so we even give him a nickname. He's the Apostle Paul.

We don't say that about anybody else, but if you listen to us preachers talk,

it's like first name Apostle, last name Paul.

And we just can't see Paul making any mistakes. So far as we're concerned,

he was always daring, always bold, always courageous, always faithful

after his conversion. But if you read the letters that Paul wrote and the book

of Acts, what you find is he was daring, bold, courageous,

but not always so. And one of the challenges we're going to talk about this,

this morning affects Paul directly, and that is overcoming the

challenge of fear. So if you got your Bible to Acts 18, let's just read

the first 8 verses. This is Paul on the second missionary journey, and this

is his work in Corinth. Acts 18:1-8. Starting in verse 1, it says,

Acts 18:1–8

after this, Paul left Athens. He went to Corinth. He found

a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy

with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius commanded all the Jews to leave

Rome. And he went to see them. And because he was of the same

trade, he stayed with them and worked with them, for they were tentmakers by trade.

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade the Jews

and the Greeks. This is Paul's normal activity. Go to the synagogue, preach and teach,

and try to convert folks. Let's look at his success or how the

results of his ministry. Verses 5 through 8 says, when Silas and Timothy arrived from

Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word,

testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus. And when they opposed

and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, your blood be

on your own heads. I'm innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.

And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus,

a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue,

and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire

household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed,

and they were baptized. So Paul's results there are kind of typical for Paul.

He goes there, he preaches, people believe, and they're baptized. But then notice Jesus's

words of assurance and comfort to Paul. Acts 18:9-10,

Acts 18:9–10

it says, and the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, do not

be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I'm with

you and no one will attack you to harm you, For I have many people

in this city who are my people. So here's a question. Why would Jesus

say this to Paul right after Paul has preached? Acts 18:8

Acts 18:8

says, many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. The next thing

you read is that Jesus is saying to Paul, hey, don't be afraid.

Keep speaking. Nobody's going to harm you. And I've got a lot of people in

this city. Why would Jesus say those words to Paul?

Evidently Paul was afraid. Roger, that's right. Evidently Paul had some

fear. And as a result of this, Jesus is speaking to him to encourage him

to overcome that. And so here's a question: why does Paul still

experience fear at this point in his ministry? By this point, Paul's written several

New Testament letters. He's already been on one missionary journey. And if

you read about the first missionary journey, Paul had already been in several sticky situations.

He had been stoned in Lystra, run out of town in Damascus and

other places. Why would Paul at this point in his ministry still be dealing with

trepidation and fear? So much so that Jesus has to do something he

really hadn't done since the road to Damascus. Throughout the book of Acts,

Jesus doesn't just make these physical appearances or

these vision appearances, theophanic visions where he appears

and speaks to anybody. Jesus hadn't done this with Paul since Acts 9 on the

road to Damascus. Evidently the fear Paul's experiencing here is so acute

that Jesus had to interrupt his travels and say, I want you to

keep preaching here. And verse 11 says, Paul stayed for 18 months

in Corinth as a result. How is it that Paul at this point in his

ministry, a seasoned preacher, apostle, author of the New

Testament, is still experiencing fear so much so that Jesus has to

come along and encourage him? He's still just a human. So part of

this is about being a human. Psalm 78:39,

Psalms 78:39

God says, he remembered that they were but flesh. So one of the issues is

Paul's a human like anybody else. What else? Maybe at

this place. Okay, so Mike says maybe Paul was not having as

much success at this place. As you read through the book of Acts,

and we can put success in quotes, as far as Luke describing

conversions, the numeric value of those conversions starts to go

down the deeper you get into the book of Acts. You no longer read of

thousands of people obeying the gospel. You'll hear about some, you'll hear about many.

Paul's just coming off of the preaching in Athens. Wouldn't call it a

failure, but not the monstrous results and numbers that we're used to. So maybe different

circumstances, Paul could be discouraged at this point. What else that

Jesus would have to speak to Paul and say, don't be afraid? What kind of

place was Corinth that you know of?

Sensual evil. Yeah, read 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

1 Corinthians 6:9–10

Paul talks about idolatry, adultery, homosexuality,

drunkenness. So sometimes certain places make your

work harder than it probably typically is, and I think Paul's dealing

with some of that. At this point in Paul's life, he may also be physically

fatigued. And sometimes fatigue will bring on doubt and struggles

and fear where when a person's healthy and doing the best that they might

not experience. One of the challenges the church is always going to face is overcoming

fear. And this was not the only time that Paul faced this.

It would be in other times in his life. Sorry about the font. Tried to

get as much as we could on one screen. If you can't read it,

I'll read it to you, okay? Look at 1 Corinthians 2. I just want to

show you this is not a one-off. Throughout Paul's life and ministry,

there are several times when Paul tells us things about his personality

indirectly that maybe we don't see because we've placed the

halo effect on Paul. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and in verse

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

3, Paul, no doubt speaking back to this very occasion in Corinth

in Acts 18, this is what he says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 3.

In verses 1 and 2, I desire to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ

and him crucified. And what does he say about his time in Corinth in verse

3? And I was with you in meekness and weakness,

excuse me, and in fear and in what? Much trembling.

Paul wasn't just afraid. Whatever they were doing in Corinth, this wasn't everywhere that Paul

went. Sometimes Paul would go to a place, be stoned. They say, Paul, don't go

back in there. Paul says, nobody can stop me. I'm going back in.

Whatever happened at Corinth, Paul was not only afraid, he was

not only in distress or weakness, He was so

afraid that he was literally trembling. He was terrified

to the point of trembling. Paul was afraid. I don't know if that's in your

vision or your view of the Apostle Paul, but that's what the Bible says

that he experienced. That's how he describes his own life. Look at Ephesians 6.

Ephesians 6, and look at the end of this in verses 18 through

20. Paul's not going to mention fear explicitly, but he will say some things that

tell us something about how he went about approaching ministry and why he needed

prayers. Ephesians 6:18, Paul says,

Ephesians 6:18

you should be praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication

for all the saints. So Paul says, pray for all the Christians. But then

in verse 19, and also for me, that words may be given me in the

opening of my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel for

which I'm an ambassador in chains. That I may declare boldly as I— what?—

ought to speak. Paul's saying, pray for me that I'll get an opportunity to preach,

and when I do, that I might do it— how?— boldly.

Why pray that I might do it boldly? Isn't that how Paul always operated?

Evidently, there were occasionally temptations where Paul,

without the prayer and support of others, might do what?

He might shrink back. And so he says, pray for me. Colossians 4,

we'll look at this last one. Colossians 4:10. 2 through 4,

Colossians 4:10

similar prayer requests from Paul to a church. Paul never been

here. He had never been to Colossae, but here's what he requests of them.

He says, continue steadfastly in prayer, Colossians 4:2,

Colossians 4:2

being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also

for us that God may open to us a door for the word to declare

the mystery of Christ on which I— on account of which I'm in prison,

that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.

And in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-3, Paul's going to pray there,

2 Thessalonians 3:1–3

hey, pray for me that I might be delivered from wicked and unreasonable people

because not everybody possesses faith. What are some of the themes you see in

these prayers, especially these prayer requests that Paul's making of

other churches and of other Christians? What is this telling you about Paul? What is

Paul typically praying about or wanting prayer— people to

pray for him about? What are his typical requests surrounding?

To be bold like he should be, which suggests that maybe he was on the

verge of not being so. What else? What was Paul

afraid about? Be bold in what regard?

In soul-winning, in regards to evangelism. Is that what it says? Soul-winning? Yeah,

evangelism. We tend to view this as Paul's natural reflex. Show of

hands, anybody ever been nervous before about sharing the gospel with somebody?

Ever been nervous? Paul too. Have you ever been so nervous though that

you literally started shaking? See, Paul was that afraid

in Corinth, and yet he still preached. What kinds of things are we

afraid of just in general in life as it relates to our Christianity?

What kinds of things are we afraid of? Because this is a challenge that Christians

will always have to overcome. It's in the book of Acts with Paul. It'll always

be a part of our lives. What kinds of things are we afraid of?

Evangelism being turned down and soul winning. Okay, that's one. But even outside

of evangelism, what other things grip us to the point of we're fearful or

we're timid about these things in our lives? What kinds of things?

It might change relationships. We'll talk more about that later. But yeah, sometimes evangelism

will change relationships. Yep. Anything else?

Don't be arrogant and haughty for sure.

Yep. We're afraid of rejection. Yes. But I mean fear in general

doesn't have to deal with evangelism. Like you're a human being. What are you afraid

of? Yes, but not— let's not think evangelism

for a minute. Yes, they're not— when I have the right answers, that's true too.

People are worried about that. But is that all that we're afraid of in life?

You're just worried about evangelism all day? That's all you think about?

Yeah. What else? What are you afraid of? Anybody afraid of death?

You ever died before? A lot of people are afraid of that, right? Worried about,

hey, how's it going to be when I transition to the other side? Sometimes we're

afraid about death, even though Jesus says Hey, I'm the resurrection and the life.

And those that believe in me, though they were dead, yet shall they live.

The one who believes in me will never really die. And yet, if you're honest,

and sometimes as you get closer to the front of that line,

there is a fear about death and maybe not even about your eternal security,

but about the process itself. I'm just telling you, that's a natural

part of being a Christian. What else? Somebody said something. I didn't hear it.

Kevin. Worldly expectations. Yeah, sometimes we're worried

about our survival. Am I going to have enough resources to survive? That's a fear

that people have. Am I going to have enough money? Am I going to have

enough of what I need to make it from day to day? Kim?

Yeah, public speaking. Yes, exactly. That's why

there's not like a long line of people saying, Hiram, please let me do a

devo next month. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, public speaking. Sometimes we're afraid

of that. Um, I think we're afraid of some sometimes our own failure,

and we're worried about whether or not we're going to be good enough and whether

we're going to succeed. Paul was a human just like us, and he faced fear.

Sometimes we talk about— and I think this makes Paul's words to Timothy,

by the way, at the end of his life that much more powerful and potent.

What does he tell Timothy? Timothy, God has not given us the

spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control. Fan into

flame the gift of God which was given you by the laying on of my

hands. Paul's not saying that in 2 Timothy 1:6-7 as a man who never

2 Timothy 1:6–7

experienced fear in his life. Timothy, you've been with me. You've literally

seen me shaking and afraid and timid. But what does Paul

do every time? He overcomes. He still engages and he

does what needs to be done. And I think that's his encouragement to us.

Go to Psalm 56 quickly and then we'll move on. I think sometimes we can

paint a false dichotomy that in our lives it's either fear or faith.

And if you got faith, you won't be afraid. But most times,

It's not fear or faith. Sometimes it's

fear with faith. And I think you'll see that David's another guy. You put a

halo effect on David, wrote many of the Psalms, good, faithful,

courageous man. But look at David in Psalm 56:3-4.

Psalms 56:3–4

He's talking about his enemies and being surrounded. Psalm 56:3,

Psalms 56:3

he says, when I'm afraid, I do what?

I put my trust in you, in God whose word I praise. In God I

trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? When David's afraid,

that's when he puts his trust. It's not, hey, now I'm no longer afraid.

I don't have any struggles. David's working through his fear with his faith.

And Paul says, I was with you in much fear and in much trembling.

And even though Jesus spoke to Paul in Acts 18, he still was afraid and

he still had to deal with it. Go back to Acts 18, and I

want us to notice, and you tell me, how did Jesus address Paul's

fear? What did Jesus do for Paul when Paul was afraid. Just look at this

text. Look at Acts 18:9-10. What does

Acts 18:9–10

Jesus provide for Paul when Paul's dealing with this fear

in Corinth? What does he do for him? I'm with you. He reminds

him of the divine presence. I'm with you. Does God say that to anybody else

in the Bible? Is there anybody else in scripture you can think of who was

dealing with fear and God's response was, you've got a great task ahead of

you. Don't be afraid because I'm with you. Anybody else?

Joshua. Who said Joshua chapter 1 and verse 9? Yeah, Miss Doris. Joshua 1:9.

Joshua 1 · chapter mention Joshua 1:9

He says, Joshua, be strong and be courageous.

Don't be afraid because I'm what? I'm with you. So the divine

presence. He does that with Paul here. He says, don't be afraid.

Go on speaking. Verse 10, I'm with you. The divine presence. What else?

What else? Acts 18:9-10. Just pull them right out of the text. What else does

Acts 18:9–10

he say? Harry.

Mm-hmm. Yes, there's the— yeah, Harry's mentioning the bottom

half of the Great Commission, Matthew 28:20. Lo, I'm with you always,

Matthew 28:20

even to the end of the age. So there's this regard for Paul. You've got

to do evangelism, Paul. No, Jesus is saying we've got to do evangelism.

I'm going with you. And he says, I'm going to be with you always to

the end of the age. Yes.

Yes. So he also includes other people. Look at the end of verse 10.

He says, no one will attack you in this city, for I have— what in

this city for Paul? I have many people. How does

that encourage you when you're afraid? This idea of many people, what does that mean?

It's not just you. Look at 1 Peter 5. Hold your hand in

Acts 18. Go to 1 Peter 5. 1 Peter 5,

and look at verse 8 and verse 9. You're not alone. This is a

constant idea in Scripture. You remember Elijah? What did Elijah think

in 1 Kings 19? He says, I'm the only one left and

they seek my life to take it away. What does God tell Elijah?

No, you're not. I have 7,000 prophets who haven't bowed the knee to Baal,

1 Kings 19:18. And the same thing happens here. 1 Peter 5:8,

1 Kings 19:18 1 Peter 5:8

be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about

as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. We tend to think about that

personally. The devil wants me, but look at verse 9, whom you resist steadfast

in your faith, knowing that the same conflict is being accomplished by who?

Your brotherhood throughout the world. It's everybody. It's not just you.

And Jesus tells Paul, I've got a lot of people in Corinth.

Now Paul's walking through Corinth and there's all kinds of things there. There's idol

temples, there's brothels, there's idolatry. And it may look like

there's more of them than there are of me. And Paul is told by Jesus,

Hey, don't be afraid. I've got a lot of people in this city. And if

I'm with them, Paul, I'm also going to be with you. So, so far we

found Jesus told him, I'm with you. There's other people. What else?

Nobody's going to hurt you. Wouldn't it be nice if you knew ahead of time

about all the things you're afraid of? Death, finances,

health. If you could hear directly from heaven, Jesus saying,

hey, none of it's going to hurt you. I think if we knew

that ahead of time, and that's most of the struggle with our fear, we're afraid

of the unknown. And if we just knew how it was going to end,

right? One time I had a friend

going through a terrible hardship and there was an elder that told him, he was

trying to explain to him, hey, you're going to get through this. You'll make it

through on the other side. And he said, I know what this feels like.

You know, you're going to get punched. You just don't know when to flinch.

Like, you know, this is coming. And if you knew when it was coming,

if you could just tell me the conclusion ahead of time, I could make it

through. He tells Paul, nobody's going to harm you. How would your life

work if you knew ahead of time, hey, whatever I'm going through, whatever it is,

It's going to be bumpy and rocky, but I'm going to see it through to

the other side. Most people can handle that. Most people can ride the waves.

Our fear is what? It's going to hurt me.

And more than hurt me, it's going to do what? It's going to destroy me.

What if you had divine assurance nothing's going to hurt you?

What if you do? Jesus says, fear not those that can destroy the body,

but after that they have what? Nothing else they can do. Just think

about that part of the phrase. After that, there's nothing else they can do.

Fear not those that can destroy the body, but after that, there's nothing else they

can do. There's some things that will sting in this life, but they all

have a stopping point. And after that, there's nothing else that they can

do. Paul says, I'm persuaded nothing can separate you from the love of God.

So take your greatest fear, play it all the way out, and then just realize

when this world has done its worst, God has a stopping point

and there's nothing else that it can do. The same assurance that Paul had,

we had in proximity. Just because Jesus spoke to Paul in the vision,

Proximity makes no difference concerning the potency of his words. It's just

as powerful even though he's not whispering it to us in our bedroom. The things

you're worried about, listen to Jesus. Ultimately, I mean, in the deepest

ways where it really matters, they won't hurt you. You run out

of money, so be it. Your health fails you, so be it.

Something comes up, you lose your job, in a sense, so be it. Yes,

those are waves we've got to ride in this life, but ultimately Jesus

says, I promise you those things won't hurt you. And what he does for Paul

is he neutralizes the fear. He says, hey, you're so worried about this,

but in the end, these people won't hurt you. Now, Paul, he rode with Luke,

he had a doctor, but I imagine Paul was a pretty beat up dude.

They didn't have like modern chiropractors and Paul had been stoned and all sorts

of things. And you hear Jesus saying, this isn't going to hurt you. Well,

Paul had a lot of other things that were going to happen to him in

life. So what does Jesus mean none of these things are going to hurt you?

Not in the ultimate sense. And we need to live our lives more

thinking about the ultimate sense. Romans 8:18,

Romans 8:18

Paul says, I'm convinced that the sufferings of this present time,

not worth comparing with the glory that shall be revealed in us.

So I'm going to be with you. There's other people. None of this is going

to hurt you. Anything else in Acts 18? Keep speaking.

Yeah, Miss Tara, keep speaking and don't be silent.

You don't have to wait till you're past your fear to get

active and busy for the Lord. And I think sometimes we're waiting for the coast

to be clear. Sometimes the coast doesn't get clear. Sometimes you've just got to keep

on moving along and doing what he wants you to do. Paul, you keep speaking.

Don't be silent. How's Paul going to work through his fear? Keep doing what God

wants him to do. You just have got to keep showing up and keep doing.

If you wait until all is well, that's all the devil's got to

do. If you're just waiting for fair weather conditions, and then once

I get rid of my fears, I'll get busy for the Lord. You'll never get

busy because there'll even be hypothetical fears that'll keep you frozen.

He says, you keep speaking and don't let anybody stop you. And then the last

thing I would say is just in verse 9, the direct command, don't do this,

Paul. Do not be afraid. Don't let fear run your life. Just choose

not to be afraid. And this is what he tells Paul, and this is what

he says to all of us. All right, last thing before we move on to

number 2. I think there are some things we talked about, individual aspects

of this as Christians, but And you won't be able to see this good,

but there are some things I think churches are afraid of. Like, as far

as our congregation in a wider sense than just you and me as

individuals, sometimes I think churches face the challenge of fear concerning the

budget. What does Paul say in Philippians 4:19? My God will supply what?

Philippians 4:19

How many of them? All your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ.

Sometimes I think churches are worried about members leaving. There's a fear.

If we stand up and preach this, if we say this, if we challenge in

this way, what about the people leaving? Or what about young people in the next

generation? And for every one of those fears, Jesus says the same

thing to us that he said to Paul. I'm with you. Other people are dealing

with this very same thing. You just keep doing my will and above

all, don't be afraid. And it's not always faith or fear. Sometimes it's

faith with fear. And the longer we walk and do that, the fear starts

to fade and the faith starts to rise. And that's what you see happen

with Paul. Last thing in Acts 18, look at what the result was in verse

11. What does Paul do after Jesus says this to him in verse 11?

How long? Up to this point in Paul's life, this was the

longest he stayed anywhere. Now he'll be in Ephesus for 3 years, but up to

this point, it's the longest Paul stayed. Paul probably had a ticket booked to leave

the next day, but after he spoke with Jesus, he said, I can do 18

months here. I can stay. If Jesus is going to stay with me, I can,

I can ride this out. And that's how we ought to view our troubles and

our fears. If Jesus is with me, I can ride this out. If Jesus isn't

with me, then it doesn't matter what I'm going through. I want to go through

it with Jesus. Overcoming the challenge of fear. Churches are going to always have to

deal with this. We will as individual Christians. And Paul teaches us how to

overcome it. All right. Here's the second challenge. We got 4. Correcting mistaken ideas

about salvation. All right. All of the challenges we've talked about so far this quarter

are applicable. I think they apply. This may be the one that you probably

could end up dealing with this week. I think this is a challenge.

Correcting mistaken views about when a person's saved and how the gospel

plan of salvation works is a ready challenge that every one of us is going

to face. And what we're going to see in Acts 18:24 down through the

Acts 18:24

end of the chapter, and then in Acts 19:1-7, is several

Acts 19:1–7

things: how the early church handled this when they ran up against people that

thought they were saved that weren't, or that taught things about salvation

that were inaccurate. And I think it'll help us when we deal with this.

So look at Acts 18, and I'm going to read 24 down through the end.

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to

Ephesus. He was an eloquent man. He was competent in the Scriptures.

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

only knew the baptism of John. 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. And when he wished to cross into

Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him.

And when he arrived, they 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. So, okay, there's 2 different groups here. Here's the first group.

These individuals, they come to Apollos.

Apollos is preaching. What do we know about Apollos in Acts 18? What does Luke

tell us about him? What kind of preacher is he?

Mighty, eloquent, bold. But what's his problem?

He only knows what? Look at verse 25. He only knows about what? The baptism

of John. That's right. So as a result, Priscilla and Aquila, they hear him preaching,

they come, they take him aside, and they say, hey, there's something in your preaching

you left out. They explained to him the word of God more accurately. If you

write in your Bible, you might underline verse 25.

He spoke and taught accurately. And then look at verse 26,

it's the same word. They teach him more accurately the word. So he

was teaching what he knew accurately up to a point, but he didn't have the

whole truth. They take him aside and they say, hey, there's more. How does Apollos

respond? He receives the correction, and as a result,

he goes on preaching. Now look at the second episode, Acts 19:1-7.

Acts 19:1–7

Similar thing happens right after this with Paul. It happened

while Apollos was at Corinth. Paul passed through the inland country.

He came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

He said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They said,

no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. And he said,

into what then were you baptized? They said, into John's baptism.

And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling people

to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.

On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when

Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began

speaking in tongues and prophesying And there were about 12 men in all.

So Paul finds these men, 12 guys. He says, hey, have you received the

Holy Spirit since you believed? We don't know anything about that. Into what then were

you baptized? You couldn't have gotten New Testament Great Commission baptism.

You don't even know about the Holy Spirit. Paul explains the differences

between Jesus' baptism and John, and these 12

men, what happens to them? They're baptized, this time biblically

for the right reason. And as a result, Paul lays his hands on them.

They receive miraculous ability. He goes his way. This challenge

of trying to teach people the truth about when you become

a Christian and how this operates, it may be the most pressing challenge,

especially where we live in, as you talk to people about the Bible on a

regular basis. Don't fast forward to modern time yet. Just stay with Acts 18

and 19. I've got a question. What made John the Baptist's baptism

such a challenge for people? Like, why is this a challenge trying to show people

in Ephesus the difference and Apollos the difference between Jesus'

baptism and John. What would have made this a challenge as Priscilla

and Aquila faced it with Apollos and as Paul faces it with these 12 men?

Just stick with the baptism of John. Why would this have been difficult?

It was for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus, if you get baptized into

Christ, what does Peter say in Acts 2:38? Repent and be baptized every one

Acts 2:38

of you in the name of Jesus Christ for what? Cool, but why

was John baptizing people? Mark 1:4 says, John also was baptizing

Mark 1:4

people for the forgiveness of sins. I think the greatest challenge

with the baptism of John is this: it was so similar to

New Testament baptism. It was for the forgiveness of sins. It was preparing

people for the kingdom. It was commanded and commissioned by God.

John was baptizing people because Jesus told him to. God told

him, baptize people and prepare them. But when Jesus died and rose from the dead,

John's baptism was no longer in effect. And everybody that got that

baptism after the fact, if you got John's baptism after

Jesus told his disciples to go out and preach the good news, then that baptism

was no longer valid. But I imagine based on what we read in Acts 18

and 19, this was such a challenge because it was so similar to New Testament

baptism. That's right. That's right.

And this is why they don't know about the Holy Spirit. Correct. But I'm saying

it was a challenge initially, Chuck, and you're right. John's baptism was going to reach

a stopping point because of Jesus's words. But initially it

would've been challenging because these people are saying, hey, John baptized and John was commissioned

by God, but it wasn't the whole deal. So here's my question for us.

Why is this challenging for us? Talking to people about baptism

for the forgiveness of sins and when people become Christians, why is this

also a challenge that we're going to face? In what way is it a challenge?

Anybody ever tried to do this? Talk to somebody about how to become a Christian

and face the challenge. Shake or nod. Blink, wink an eye. Let me see you're

alive. Okay, Kim, go ahead.

Sorry.

Yeah, I wasn't there, but here's what I know. Here's what I do know.

I wasn't there, but here's what the Bible tells us. Here's what I think is

impressive. First off, and we'll talk about this. Well, we'll just do it now.

Um, I think it's important that the Holy Spirit had Luke praise

the good of Apollos first. See, his whole— everything he believed didn't

have to be tamed. He believed accurately. I mean, if you would have heard Apollos

on Isaiah, it probably would have been the most amazing sermon you ever heard.

If he was doing an exposition on Genesis 1, probably nobody better.

But once you started talking about salvation, he was off. It appears he was

humble enough to let 2 tentmakers teach him. A man from Alexandria,

the greatest library in the ancient world, mighty eloquent.

This is like a professor from Harvard just letting somebody who's a construction

worker come up and say, Hey, I know you know all this stuff, but you're

wrong about this. And he was evidently humble enough and kind enough to receive

the teaching, and he received it and he was corrected. I don't know about the

conversation, but I know he didn't put up much resistance, and as

a result, he went on teaching what was accurate and what was true. Can we

at least talk about how the heck— I mean, there's conflict in this world.

Yeah, but I mean conflict. Yeah, let's— we'll talk about that in a

minute. We'll talk about that in a minute. But first, why is this a challenge?

But yes, Kim, remind me if we don't get to it. It's on here.

Yes, Dawn, go ahead. We've already been baptized.

I've already received that. Yeah, some people have already received baptism.

It may not be exactly what the New Testament says, but it's kind

of like y'all's. I mean, I went underwater, you went underwater. I said some things

about Jesus before I got baptized. You said— you see, they had the same problem.

So before we think like this is just so foreign to us, I just want

you to see in the New Testament times, people dealt with the same thing.

One reason why it's a challenge, sometimes a person says, I don't need to do

that. I've already been baptized. What else?

Yeah, I'm already a Christian. I believe. I put my faith. John 3:16.

John 3:16

I believe in God. I'm already set. And since I'm a Christian, there's no

need. I mean, I might be baptized. I view it as like spiritual icing,

right? I can put it on the cake if I want. But as Levi said,

I don't have to do that. I'm already set. What else?

Tradition. Yeah, couldn't possibly be wrong with what I've been taught. Here's some of the

things— anybody else? I don't want to overlook anybody. Chuck, go ahead, go ahead.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and we'll talk about— and we'll talk about some practical

ways in a minute about how to address it. You're right, that's not the whole,

but Yeah, and we'll talk about how to do it,

but here's why I think it's a challenge, and some of this y'all have already

said, and Chuck, I agree about faith only. I think family and friends

just misunderstand baptism sometimes.

Nicodemus did. Nicodemus asked Jesus, are you saying I've got to enter

my mother's womb a second time and be born? In John 3:4.

John 3:4

He was a learned man and he was confused on what Jesus meant by being

born again. Sometimes people misunderstand. Here's the second thing. Sometimes people

perform baptism unbiblically. I've already been baptized. I didn't do it for the forgiveness of

sins, but I've already been baptized. Now, question: if a person has not been baptized

the way Jesus says for the forgiveness of sins, are they a Christian?

Is it right to call people a Christian who haven't done

what Jesus says the way Jesus said it ought to be done?

Is a person saved in that position? They couldn't be.

If, if they could, then you've got to be asking, why did Paul rebaptize these

individuals in Acts 19? And sometimes we can fall into this.

We think, well, I don't want to say who's in and who's out. But Paul

says, hey, if you didn't do what Jesus said, then I want to make sure

that you do. Sometimes people perform baptisms, but it's not for the biblical reason.

Some view obedience as legalistic and unloving. If you insist

on baptism for the forgiveness of sins in connection with what Jesus taught, a person

may think, ah, you don't really love people. And then I think it's a

challenge because truth is narrow. Jesus says this in Matthew 7:13-14.

Matthew 7:13–14

It's a challenge, but you can't be a Christian if you haven't

done what Christ said you have to do to become a Christian. And Paul and

Priscilla and Aquila, they faced this challenge and we're going to face the same

thing. So let's kind of get practical. How can we help those who misunderstand

or disbelieve what the Bible teaches here on this subject? How can we

help them? So this is what Kim's question was, and maybe we can try to

figure out how to help her. So Chuck mentioned something about faith only and all

of that. Let me say something about that for a minute though.

People that insist that like all you have to do is believe, like faith only.

Again, I think we learned something here in Acts 18. What should we

do? We should praise and acknowledge and emphasize the

importance of faith. We should talk about what faith does, but let's not

belittle belief. And I don't think Chuck was doing that. Let's not belittle belief,

but let's also walk through what else the Bible says a person has to do.

But y'all help me. How can we help people who misunderstand Just

like Paul did and just like Priscilla and Aquila did. And Kim had this question,

so let's kind of briefly talk it through. How do we help people with

what the Bible says on this subject when they might've done something

very similar, but not exactly what the Bible teaches here,

or may have a different understanding on it? The church had to face this and

they walked through it. This is a challenge. If you talk to people,

you will face. And here's the thing, as the world is more secular,

you might be tempted to think like, man, these people believe in Jesus. They go

to church. They're just like us. They believe similarly to what the Bible says.

Does it really make a difference? Like maybe in the end, God's just going to

save some people arbitrarily, even if they didn't get all the I's dotted and T's

crossed. Maybe they just— but Paul doesn't do that. So we've got to figure out

how do we help people in this circumstance? What do we do? What do you

think? Study with them. Okay. Yeah, we do need

to sit down and study with them. I think opening the Bible is a great

way to begin. What else? Acknowledge what they do have

correct and right. That's what Paul— that's what Priscilla and Aquila

did with Apollos. Acknowledge what you believe in belief, me too. You believe repentance

is necessary, I do too. You even believe baptism is a part of what God

wants us to do, I do as well. Now let's talk about what the Bible

actually says baptism accomplishes. Here's some of the things. Acknowledge the good.

I think that's important. Second thing, what do Priscilla and Aquila do with

Apollos? They take him what? What does the Bible say?

They took him aside. You think that's important?

Taking a person aside? Why do you think they took him aside? Why not just

stand up in the synagogue and just straighten them in front of everybody?

Robert, you said what? You don't want to call them out.

Most people will listen to us if they don't feel like we're trying to belittle

and embarrass them. Even if they don't go all the way, if they feel like,

hey, this person really cares about me, they're really not trying to one-up me.

If you don't embarrass people, at least you give yourself an opportunity for a fair

hearing. It says, look at this, they taught him the way of God,

or the way of the Lord, more accurately. I think that's important.

This isn't the Church of Christ way. I don't want to teach you that.

I don't want to teach you Church of Christ anything. I want to teach you

New Testament Christianity, what the Bible says, the way of the Lord more accurately.

It's not like I want to teach you my church's way. I think that's important.

You should never say, my preacher teaches, the Church of Christ teaches this, the church—

no, you should say, hey, look, in your own Bible, here's Here's what the

Bible says. I want you to follow what the scriptures teach. I want you to

do it because they taught him the way of the Lord. This wasn't the Priscilla

and Aquila way. This wasn't the Pauline way, even though they were good friends with

the Apostle Paul. They were trying to teach him, hey,

this is what the Bible says. And if you love Jesus, and I know you

do, I think you'll get in line with this.

Yeah, that's right. That's right.

I think that's right, Chuck. And I don't want to undermine that except to say,

As much as I agree with that, I wouldn't— and I think you're right and

the Bible teaches that, but they think they've got the gospel too.

Like whittling it down simply to let's just teach them the gospel doesn't

completely solve the problem. And this is why we're talking through this and what Paul

did, because just think about it. Apollos thought he was

teaching the gospel too. Right,

right, right. Yeah, for sure.

Exactly, exactly. I'm just telling you, when you get into these conversations with people,

when we do this, We just have got to acknowledge they think they've

got— everybody that's teaching something religiously is teaching it because they think it's

right too. And so if you say, I'm going to teach them the gospel,

well, newsflash, they think they're teaching the gospel too, or they wouldn't be teaching

it. We got to get to where Chuck's saying, we've got to get there,

but we just have got to acknowledge here's some of the practical things we've got

to do to get to that table to teach them the gospel. Russell, go ahead.

And then Denver. Away from opinion.

You have to put them by what it means. Yeah, you can't tell them.

That's right. And their opinion is your opinion. That's right.

And I think that goes with the teaching them the way of the Lord,

showing them the way of the Lord. Yeah, you have to put it in God.

Yeah, it's his way or no way. I think that's right.

Denver, go ahead.

Uh, yeah.

Yeah, I think that's right. Sometimes people do have to unlearn things. Here's the

last one up there that I think is also important. Ask some good

questions. Paul didn't run up on the guys in Ephesus and say, hey, I know

you're not saved. You only got John's baptism. That's old. He said, hey,

did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Now, some people think Paul had

a way of figuring this out. Whether he knew it or not, he let them

speak for themselves. Instead of saying, hey, you know this doesn't save you,

faith only, sinner's prayer, why don't we just say, hey, What did

you do? Tell me about your conversion. When did you believe you were saved?

What do you think the Bible says about baptism? Not because Russell's right, opinions don't

mean everything, but we want to know what this person thinks and

not assume and not say, well, everybody in this group thinks this way.

And you don't want people to do that to you. I think one of the

skillful things we can do in evangelism is ask people questions

and then actually listen for the response so that we can respond

properly. Once Paul heard them tell him, We don't even know about a Holy Spirit.

Then Paul was able to say, okay, well, here's the difference between John's baptism and

Jesus. And he made great inroads. And we'll do the same thing if

we actually listen. Don't come guns loaded, just ready to

blast. Come ready to listen. And then we can help people. The best soul

winners are people that just listen carefully to what people are telling you and then

ask them good questions. And as Russell said, put it between them and the

Bible and let Jesus show them where they need to go. And what direction they

need to take. One more thing. Yes, go ahead.

Well, I think— and this is what I was saying earlier, let me just make

this clear. I don't know if you heard what Miss Doris said, but I

don't really think it's about necessarily this group or that group. I just

think we should open the Bible with people and say, now listen, here's what Jesus

says a person has to to be saved, regardless of background, regardless of church tradition.

Like, tradition is strong, but truth is stronger.

It doesn't really matter which church you went to, what you were taught, and all

of this. We should just open up the Bible, and if a person's done what

Jesus has said, require no more of them than Jesus Christ.

If they haven't done what they've said, it's not, well, you're this, you're Church of

Christ, I'm Baptist, you're Catholic. Hey, Jesus wants everybody to do this.

Jesus loves everybody just the same and wants you to be saved. And until you

do this, you're not saved according to Jesus. When you do this,

you're saved and you're in the right with Jesus regardless. And what I want to

end with is, what are some unhelpful behaviors? And I think we saw some

of this already, but I'll just mention a few things that are unhelpful in

these discussions with people. Some of this Chuck mentioned earlier too.

Talking down and demeaning. I don't think that's going to help us.

Oh, I can't believe you believe that crazy sinner's prayer. All you got to do

is believe. That's not going to help you. It's not going to help us.

Calling names, all of the insert whoever in the blank. I think

sometimes you have to use a name to be descriptive in one-on-one conversations

when you're discussing, but saying things about other groups,

challenging people's sincerity, you don't know the hearts of men. I wouldn't say

all of the insert whoever in the blank, all of them, they just think like

this. That's not going to help us. Paul didn't do that. Paul didn't say all

these John the Baptizers. He says, hey guys, I know you received a certain baptism.

Here's what the New Testament says. Belittling people, that's not going to help us.

And being silent. Priscilla and Aquila could have went home and talked

about Apollos, but instead they talked to Apollos. And that may be our greatest challenge.

I don't really want to ruffle any feathers. This guy's skilled. He's educated.

I don't really want anybody to get mad at me. But one of the challenges

to overcome in this regard is to say, I love you. I care about you.

I don't think I'm better than you. I don't want you to leave your denomination

and come to mine. I'm saying let's run for dear life out of all denominations

and run to Jesus for refuge and be saved by him. And I love

you enough and I want to say something. And that takes courage to say something,

not knowing how they're going to receive it. You do it lovingly, speak the truth

in love, Ephesians 4:15, and then you leave the results with God.

Ephesians 4:15

Correcting mistaken ideas about salvation is always going to

be a challenge the church has to overcome. And there'll be trial and there'll be

error with this. But we've got to engage in doing it because Jesus

wants us to. And when we do it, we may get the same results they

got in the first century. Thanks for a good Bible class. Thanks for a good

discussion, and hopefully it was helpful. Appreciate it.