The Almost Christian

Well, I am glad you're here. If you're new, this

is not normally what we have on Sunday mornings.

Just so you know, we're not building sets every

Sunday for the Sunday message. But we have VBS

this week, obviously. And I'm thankful that VBS

recognized a great name. I mean, Carpenter Joe's.

That's just wonderful. I saw that. I thought,

wow, they're really thinking of me this year.

And I just appreciate that. But I do want to

say thank you to Brie and Olivia, Matthew, and

many others who came. I came here on Wednesday

night and saw the many hands that were helping.

It was like craft day for adults, just building

all these sets and painting. everybody was having

fun and in good mood and so thank you to all

the volunteers who have come this week to set

up and we'll be here this afternoon and this

week helping out as we're going to see little

hearts come into our church and we get to present

them with the gospel of Jesus Christ, the song

that we just sang. We get to do that and in a

fun way, in an energetic way, but also in a clear

and compassionate way wanting to share Jesus

to even the littlest of hearts. That we get to

shepherd and care for so thanks to all the the

volunteers. I have a couple other announcements

as well This one is for for you guys that Mathias

and Maisie are gonna have a baby Mazie's gonna

have the baby, but together, yeah, they're gonna

have a child. And they wanted me to make that

announcement. They're not here right now, but

if you see them when they come in for second

service, make sure that you congratulate them

as they're gonna be having a child in the beginning

of January. beginning of January. Secondly, I

have an elder update for you guys. I wanted to

announce to you guys that the elders have decided

upon bringing Matt Worthington on to the team.

Matt is a man of character. He is a man who shepherds

well within the church and is someone that we

have been going through the process for well

over a year now. of wanting to ensure that he'd

be a good fit and match up philosophically, theologically,

and all those things. What your part is in this

now is for the next month before we confirm him

and bring him on and lay hands on him and pray

for him is you get an opportunity to get to know

Matt, ask questions, even ask questions of the

elders as well, even what the process was. If

you want to know anything about that over the

next few weeks, you have opportunity to do that.

and to ask questions in that way. And then in

July, we'll pray for him and officially bring

him on to the elder team. Obviously big news

for us, we haven't added an elder to the team

for quite some time, but we're excited to have

Matt and Mindy got to play mini -golf with the

boys yesterday at the Masters mini -golf. You

didn't know the youth had a mini -golf event.

symboling the Masters, and so I got paired up

with David and Jay, and had a nice round of golf

with them. But anyways, if you have questions

about that, not about the Masters mini golf,

you can ask me that if you'd like, but about

Matt Worthington coming on as an elder, please

do come up and ask me about that. All right,

well grab your Bibles. We are in the Book of

Acts. and we are in Acts chapter 18 and we are

Acts 18 · chapter mention

going to finish Acts chapter 18 and we're going

Acts 18 · chapter mention

to get a running start into Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

I know this is a big endeavor for me to do, but

I feel like it's appropriate for us to just grab

this chunk of passage together and see what God

has to say about that and what He's going to

teach us. This morning, so let me just read for

us. I want to just read one verse for us. It's

Acts 18 verse 23 Together and then I will pray

Acts 18:23

for us and then we will dive into God's Word

Here's what it says Acts chapter 18 verse 23

Acts 18:23

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. Our Heavenly Father, we get the privilege

to jump into Your Word. We get to study it. We

get to hear from You. We get to be challenged

in our faith. We get to learn new truths. We

get to be reminded of truths that we've forgotten.

And all that in a mysterious way, by the work

of the Holy Spirit, works in our hearts to transform

us to make us like Christ. And we're even going

to learn this morning that it's not about head

knowledge. It's not about just what you know.

It's about what you believe. It's about your

convictions. And Lord, I just pray that in all

of this, you would draw us closer to you. Make

us like Jesus. It's in His name we pray. Amen.

We start out with a quote by Charles Swindoll

when it comes to the book of Acts that we don't

want to forget. Sometimes we're getting into

just these stories and we're forgetting the bigger

picture. But Charles Swindoll says this when

we study the journeys of Paul in the book of

Acts, we're not just reading a travel log of

a man. We are observing the redemptive plan of

God unfolding as he promised. Through the ministry

of Saul of Tarsus, God's mission to reclaim his

creation from the death grip of evil would move

to its next stage. The plan of the mission was

outlined in the Lord's promise at his ascension

where he said you will receive power When the

Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be

my witnesses It's unfolded in Jerusalem Judea

and Samaria and even to the remotest parts of

the earth now remember in the midst of all these

stories and all these places that the Apostle

Paul is going that Barnabas is going that that

we see of Silas is going and Timothy is going

and all these places that they're going as we're

reading these stories kind of individually we

can't forget the bigger plan of God in redemption

that's happening throughout the book of Acts

right in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8 God Said

Acts 1 · chapter mention

that they will go out and be witnesses to the

ends of the earth or watching this masterful

plan of salvation unfold one story at a time

one city at a time one person at a time as they

are saved and come to know Christ and From the

beginning from the very beginning in the book

of Acts. There's always been a strong emphasis

on the Word of God getting out That was the means

by which they were going to see people come to

know Christ was the proclamation of the Word

of God. That was the philosophy of ministry that

they had. If the apostles did not have the Word

of God, they had nothing. They had nothing to

offer. They needed the Word of God. That was

the means by which God's Word would get out.

In fact, if you have, just go back with me. I

want you to see this. Let's just trace this.

Go back to Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2,

Acts 2 · chapter mention Acts 2 · chapter mention

In verse 42 and 41, when they got together, they

devoted themselves to the teaching, to the fellowship,

to the breaking of bread. In Acts chapter 6,

Acts 6 · chapter mention

in verse 7, and the word of God continued to

increase. The number of disciples multiplied

greatly in Jerusalem and a great many of priests

became obedient to the faith. In Acts chapter

Acts 7 · chapter mention

7, we see Stephen preaching an entire message

on the Old Testament using Old Testament scriptures.

In Acts chapter 8, in verse 14, in verse 25,

Acts 8 · chapter mention

and in verse 35, you see in verse 25 that the

preaching, the gospel to many villages of the

Samaritans. This is just what the apostles did.

they marched through preaching and teaching the

gospel of Jesus Christ. In Acts chapter 11 in

Acts 11 · chapter mention

verse 1, here it is again, they received the

word from God. Acts chapter 12 in verse 24, again

Acts 12 · chapter mention

the preaching of the word of God is sent forth.

In verse 24 it says the word of God increased

and multiplied. Acts chapter 13 verse 5, Acts

Acts 13:5 Acts 13:44

chapter 13 verse 44, Acts chapter 15, 35 and

Acts 15 · chapter mention

36. The result in verse 41, there's the strengthening

of the churches. In Acts chapter 17, getting

Acts 17 · chapter mention

closer to where we are, in Acts chapter 17, in

Acts 17 · chapter mention

verse 2, Paul went into the synagogue as was

his custom. Three -day Sabbath, he reasoned with

them from the Scriptures. In verse 10, it was

the Bereans who studied the scriptures with great

joy. In Acts chapter 18, in verse 5, Silas and

Acts 18 · chapter mention

Timothy arrived in Macedonia, and Paul was occupied

with the Word. In Acts chapter 18, in verse 11,

Acts 18 · chapter mention

he stayed a year and six months teaching the

Word of God among them. This is what the apostles

and the disciples did. On every missionary journey,

the goal was this, get the Word of God out. Don't

conceal it, don't hide it, but use it by which

the means to see people come to know Christ and

the means by which people are strengthened and

discipled. It's through the Word of God. Without

the Word of God, the apostles, as I said, the

disciples, they had nothing to go with. They

wanted people to see Christ, so they showed them

in Scripture. They wanted people strengthened,

so they showed them in Scripture, and they continued

to use the Word of God. And we also need to remember

in the book of Acts, again, just some themes

that we're remembering here, is that the book

of Acts is a book of transitions. You're transitioning

from one era or one dispensation to the next.

You're watching Jews come to know Christ. and

embrace Christianity. There's a transition there,

a letting go of Judaism and embracing of Christianity.

You have Gentiles who are leaving their foreign

gods and their foreign idols to come to know

Christ. There's a transition there from an old

way of living to a new way of living. There's

a transition now from there being no church to

having the church era begin. And a transition

where the Holy Spirit was not with them and then

when Jesus ascended into heaven, the Holy Spirit

came down and was upon them. This whole book

is about transition from even the gospel being

just in Jerusalem to now being spread out to

the ends of the earth. The whole book is continually

stories of transition from one era, from one

thing to the next, from one believer to the next

believer. But through all these transitions,

that are happening what remains is that the word

of God must go forth through every generation

from the very beginning even up to our generation

now the main thing is this is that the word of

God must go forth if people are going to come

to know Christ and if people are going to be

discipled by the word of God it's all found in

God's word to strengthen the church you must

Give people the word of God. For people to come

to know Christ, you must give people the word

of God. Through all the transitions, through

all the eras, that remains the same. Now when

we come to this section of Scripture in Acts

Acts 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18, it's actually right in the middle

of the chapter, even right in the middle of the

paragraph of verses 22 and 23, you have the ending

of Paul's second missionary journey. You have

the start of his third missionary journey. I

know they kind of pulled a fast one on us right

here in the middle There's no heading that says

hey, this is the start of Paul's third missionary

journey We're all dependent upon that and it's

not there But it's right at the end in verse

22 Paul's second missionary journey ends and

in verse 23 the third missionary journey begins

Now watch this. What does he do in his third

missionary journey? Well, it says it there the

goal right there at the end of verse 23 we already

read it it is to strengthen all the disciples

how was this going to happen it was going to

happen through the teaching of the word of god

look at the end of verse 28 this is apollos he

powerfully refuted the jews in public showing

by the scriptures that the christ was jesus look

at verse 20 of chapter 19 so the word of the

lord continued to increase and prevail mightily

The Apostle Paul didn't sit back while he was

in Antioch as it says there in verse 22. He's

in Antioch his own church He didn't sit back

and say to himself. You know what my my philosophy

of ministry needs to change You know, I think

I need to add a little bit more creativity to

this missions trip You know, I think I need to

change things. I need to start drawing people

in in different ways. You know, I'm getting beat

up a lot. I'm getting persecuted a lot. You know,

let's try to maybe candy coat the mission, the

message a little bit. Let's sweeten it up a little

bit. Let's soften things a little bit. And let's

start this third missionary journey far different

than the first two. He didn't do that at all.

He didn't change anything. All he got was a little

bit of rest when he was in Antioch and then off

he went again with the same goal, with the same

purpose, with the same means by which he would

achieve that goal. Let's get the Word of God

out again. And it continues to work. In this

third missionary journey, we will see this at

the Triune God, the work of the Father, the Son,

and the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul.

Through other key men and women, they advance

the kingdom of God and the devil will lose territory

as God's kingdom advances and expands. Most notably,

in Paul's third missionary journey here, we'll

see him in the city of Ephesus. The city of Ephesus,

and he spends some time there and even writes

a letter to them in Acts chapter 20 talking even

Acts 20 · chapter mention

about the Ephesian elders. That are in the city

of Ephesus But this is the Apostle Paul getting

ready and getting started on this second or ending

his second missionary journey Starting his third

missionary journey same philosophy of ministry

as as he goes Let's start reading then in verse

18 as we close out this second journey Paul's

was in Corinth He stayed there for about a year

and a half maybe in total about two years Verse

18, 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 Sincrae he had cut his hair, for he was under

a vow. And they came to Ephesus, and he left

them there, but he himself went into the synagogue

and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him

to stay, for a long period he declined. But on

taking leave of them. He said I will return to

you if God wills and he set sail from Ephesus

When he had landed in Caesarea, he went up and

greeted the church and then went down to Antioch

So here's the close of his missionary journey

here and I guess of note kind of the the main

thing of note here besides the different areas

that he went to was number one Priscilla and

Aquila go with him Alright, and here's his new

friends, longtime friends, or not longtime friends,

new friends who would become longtime friends

of him, who would stay on this missionary journey

with him, is Priscilla and Aquila. They just

say, hey, you know what? We didn't really care

for Corinth the whole lot. We weren't there very

long. Let's just go with Paul. Let's support

Paul. Let's go with him. Let's be of aid to him.

Let's come alongside him and let's see what the

Lord does with us as we travel with Paul. So

they go with them to Sincreate. Now while he

is there, it says that Paul received a haircut.

I find this fascinating that this is of note

here. We know nothing of Paul bodily at all except

that here he found himself a barber and went

ahead and got a haircut. And it says there that

he was under a vow. Why is this here? Why is

this in the text? Well, the Apostle Paul was

under a a Nazarite vow if you want to more study

on a Nazarite vow It's found in Numbers chapter

Numbers 6 · chapter mention

6 of verses 1 to 21 It was a vow that was entirely

voluntary entirely voluntary Where you would

commit to a kind of service for a period of time

and you would make a special vow It was a public

vow. It was a costly vow. It was a temporary

vow It involved three elements, one of which

was this, was that you would not cut your hair.

My son Drake, he's not here, but he's under a

Nazarite vow right now. You guys are wondering

why he had such long hair. He's under a Nazarite

vow in just gratitude for his father. So that's

why Jonah is on his way to a Nazarite vow right

now. I'm still teasing it out of him what's going

on there. Some of you would never be under a

Nazarite vow. You couldn't grow your hair out

any longer. The point here of this, the point

is this, the point of not cutting the hair was

for people to see that you were under a special

vow to the Lord. The vow would end when you'd

have your hair shaved off and you'd actually

have to take the hair to Jerusalem and set it

on fire. That was how you would end the vow.

But it seems as though the Apostle Paul had made

a vow in Corinth and it was out of gratitude

and thankfulness For the way God had protected

him and the way God had even said to him that

no one will attack you and no one will harm you

That I believe the Apostle Paul put himself under

this vow as a way of showing gratitude For his

time in Corinth and during that time he was in

Corinth A vow of deliverance from his accusers.

And now he cuts his hair out of thankfulness

and out of acknowledgement for what God has done.

His time in Corinth was done. This vow that he

put himself under was over and he went ahead

and shaved his head to show the people that God

had protected him, but now it's time for him

to move on. Now remember, the book of Acts is

a book of what? Transitions. The Apostle Paul

also is transitioning out of Judaism and into

Christianity. And this here would show that the

Apostle Paul was no longer under the Old Testament

law, no longer under those obligations. He was

breaking away from it, but put himself under

the law to show, or under this Nazarite vow,

to show his thankfulness for the way God had

protected him for all that time in Corinth. So

he's with Priscilla and Aquila. He has this new

haircut, the shaving of the head. They go to

Ephesus. He makes his way to the synagogue. He

reasons with the Jews. They want him to stay

and he leaves there. He sets sail from Ephesus.

He heads back and eventually makes his way to

Antioch. What's Antioch? Antioch is his home

church, kind of the ending of the second missionary

journey. And it is there that I believe that

he found what he was was missing in his life

for so long, which is a little bit of rest. little

bit of relaxation, a little bit of home cooking

back at his home church where he would have been

prayed for and cared for, but that did not last

very long. Verse 23, after spending some time

there, he departed and he went from one place

to the next through the region of Galatia, Phrygia,

strengthening all the disciples. And now we get

his third missionary journey with the goal there

to strengthen all of the disciples to continue

on the work that he had started to go back to

the churches that he had been to. Now, as we

approach verse 24 down to chapter 19 in verse

6, I want to show you guys three people, or there's

some groups of people here, and I want to give

you three lessons. All right, we're just going

to do three people and three lessons as we approach

now. this third missionary journey and specifically

what is going on in the city of Ephesus. By the

way, if you have a map, I don't have one for

you guys this morning. I couldn't decide which

one to choose between the maps. So you can consult

the back of your Bible. You can see the city

of Ephesus where Paul was, but now he's in Galatia

and Phrygia. But the movie or the story moves

on. And the first person that I want to introduce

you to, I call him the halfway Christian. The

halfway Christian, and his name is Apollos. Apollos,

let me read verse 24 down to verse 28. Now, a

Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came

to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, 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 knew only 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

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. for he powerfully refuted the Jews

in public, showing by the Scriptures that the

Christ was Jesus." Now even though the Apostle

Paul has not made his way into Ephesus, in fact

he had left and is in a different region, the

story moves forward and Luke takes us into Ephesus

and he introduces us to a man by the name of

Apollos. Not to be mistaken with Apollo. from

the Rocky movie, that is not who we're talking

about. This is Apollos. Apollos, his very name,

it means this, destroyer, destroyer. And Apollos

was a very passionate man. In fact, it's described

for us, there's many description of Apollos.

I'm going to give you these descriptions of him.

Number one is this, is that he was a Jewish man.

It says there, verse 24, now a Jew named Apollos.

We find out that this man was awaiting the arrival

of Jesus Christ. He was waiting for him to come.

He believed that the Messiah would come. He was

a Jew, but he wasn't a Jew who came from Israel.

He was a Jew that came from, as it says there,

he was a native of Alexandria. And Apollos was

also not just a Jewish man, but he was also a

brilliant man. To say that he was a native of

Alexandria, it would tell us this. The city of

Alexandria was in northern Africa, in Egypt.

It was a great city, a prominent city, right

up there next to Rome, and Alexandria was founded

by Alexander the Great. It was one of the great

centers of Greek culture right there in North

Africa. And in Alexandria was a large university.

It had one of the finest libraries in all of

the world. There was, in fact, in this library,

over 500 ,000 volumes. Half a million volumes

there in... Alexandria, which would tell us that

this was a great source of learning for the ancient

world. If you wanted to grow in your understanding,

if you wanted to learn, if you wanted to go to

university, then you would say, my goal is to

get down to Alexandria because that's where the

finest professors are with the finest volumes

of material to read and to study. Now, unfortunately,

that library has since been destroyed. And all

of that learning has been lost to the world today.

But during that time, that was the place to go.

And it would tell us that Apollosthen was a very

educated man. He was also, number three, he was

an eloquent man. That's what it says. It says

that he was an eloquent man, meaning this, that

he was learned. He was a man of rhetoric. He

was a man of the catechism. He would learn by

question and answer. He was also an eloquent

speaker. He was smooth in his speech. People

would listen to him even though they wouldn't

agree with him. They just enjoyed the manner

by which he spoke and the way that he spoke.

He was eloquent in his speech. Number four, he

was a scriptural man, you could say. Says that

he was competent in the scriptures. Another way

of saying this is that he was mighty in the scriptures.

He was well versed in his understanding of the

Old Testament He preached with power Even though

he didn't know much about Christ or anything

about Christ other than what the Old Testament

had had taught him But he was a man of the Word

of God When described people would say oh oh

you're talking about Paul's oh you're talking

about the guy that's mighty in Scripture You're

talking about the guy that's competent in Scripture.

Man, what a great description to have when people

say, your name. Oh, yeah. Oh, that guy. Man,

that guy really knows his Bible. That guy can

speak with power because he speaks from the word

of God and he knows the truth and he understands

theology. He knew just that he knew the Old Testament.

He was competent. In fact even that Greek word

for competent there It's the word dunamis where

we get the word dynamite from and power from

it and he had this this mighty power about him

in his understanding of the Bible That's just

fascinating See understood the Word of God and

he would teach them as much as he knew about

the Old Testament Number five is this. Apollos

was also a zealous man. He was a zealous man.

He was, as it says in verse 25, he instructed

in the way of the Lord and he was, what, being

fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately

the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only

the baptism of John. He was a zealous man, full

of energy, fervent in spirit, his own spirit.

He was passionate. He was excited when he talked

about the Word of God. People were just intrigued

because he was so excited to talk about it. He

was a man who knew the Old Testament, who was

passionate about it, faithfully waiting for Christ

to come. Apollos also felt what he preached and

taught. He was able to persuade men. But number

six is this, he was an uninformed man. He was

an uninformed man. He taught accurately the things

of Jesus concerning Jesus, what he knew up to

the point of knowing Jesus, though he knew only

the baptism of John. Was a typical you could

say Old Testament Jew in the sense that he was

still awaiting the coming Messiah Even though

the Messiah had already come He was still under

the baptism of John and the baptism of John is

is one that taught repentance But it also taught

that you were to believe in the coming Messiah

in fact the whole Ministry of John was to prepare

the way for the Messiah to come and that's exactly

what Apollo's believed He believed that the Messiah

was still to come Not that he had already arrived.

And so he was uninformed. He did not have the

full message of the gospel. He was still teaching

that Christ was coming. He was still teaching,

as John did, that the voice of one crying in

the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,

make his path straight. This was Apollos. This

is what he believed. Apollos knew the teaching

of John the Baptist. There's going to be one

a Messiah to come his name would be Jesus He

would be the anointed one the chosen one the

Messiah But listen the message of Apollo's fell

short of the message of the cross He got all

the way to John the Baptist and then stopped

He got all the way there to this coming Messiah,

but he missed the most important part about the

Messiah, and that is this, is that he was the

Christ, the resurrected Jesus Christ, the one

who died for the sins of the world, and then

three days later validated that he was the Messiah

by rising again. Apollos was halfway there. He

didn't quite cross the finish line. He had all

the theology, he had all the training, he had

all the upbringing, he had all the passion, he

had all the boldness, he had the eloquence to

speak, he had the zeal, but he did not have the

Holy Spirit within him. He was not saved because

he did not know of the cross of Jesus Christ.

That's an important part to understand. In fact

in many ways this is what separates a Jew from

a believer. The Jews are still awaiting the coming

Messiah and believe in a coming Messiah. But

we know that the Messiah has already come and

we know that he had validated that he had come

because of his death, burial, and resurrection

from the cross and from the grave. Pastor Kent

Hughes in his book on Commentary in the book

of Acts he tells the story of a man and maybe

you know this great theologian John Wesley You

guys familiar with the name John Wesley? John

Wesley grew up in the home of a pastor He was

taught in the school of Oxford. He even he even

taught Greek at Lincoln College He was an ordained

minister in the church He would go and do missions

work and one night he realized after teaching

in this college, after being brought and raised

up in a Christian home, doing even mission work,

going overseas to do missions work, he came back

to London because he was inspired by a group

of believers who clearly had a transformed heart,

and he said this, that he was clearly convinced

of unbelief, and he wanted the faith that whereby

alone we are saved." And he wrote this in his

journal. It was an evening. I went very unwillingly

to a society in Aldersgate Street where one was

reading Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle

to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while

he was describing the change which God works

in the heart through faith in Christ, this is

his own pen, his own writing, I felt my heart

strangely warm. I felt I did trust in Christ,

Christ alone, for my salvation and an assurance

was given to me that He had taken away my sins,

even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and

death. That warming of the heart was the actual

regeneration of His heart and the work of the

Holy Spirit in His life. This is John Wesley,

a man who knew more theology than we would ever

know. This is a man who grew up in the church.

This is a man who grew up in the the home of

a minister This is a man who went on missions

trips and this is a man who had not come to know

Christ yet He did not know Christ or saving power.

In fact, he was in church, but he was still condemned

And this was Apollo's All this passion, all this

theology, all this understanding, a man who was

eloquent, he was competent, he was fervent, he

was bold, he was accurate in what he knew, only

up to what he knew, and yet he did not know the

saving power of Jesus Christ. Let me give you

a lesson here. Let me give you the lesson here

that we can learn from Apollo said is this just

because you know your Bible or Theology and you

go to church that does not make you a Christian

That does not make you a Christian a Repentant

regenerated hearts that believes that Jesus is

the Messiah One that is filled with the Holy

Spirit makes you a Christian. Don't mistake it.

Just because you know the truth does not mean

that you believe the truth. It must transform

your heart. It must move. from your head to your

heart. This is what we pray on Sundays, Lord.

We don't want it stuck in our heads. We want

it to transform our hearts. This is why. Passion

doesn't save you. Boldness doesn't save you.

Theology doesn't save you. Eloquent speech doesn't

save you. Mighty in Scriptures doesn't save you.

A broken heart that falls before the Lord and

says that I am a sinner in need of a Savior,

in desperate need of my heart being transformed.

That's what saves you. This was Apollos. Let

me give you the second people group here that

we come to, and that is this, the hospitable

couple. The hospitable couple. We have the halfway

Christian and now we've got the hospitable couple,

Priscilla and Aquila. Verse 26, he began to speak

boldly in the synagogue, alright, it was just

custom. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,

they took him aside and explained to him the

way of God more accurately. Now we get a description

of how Apollos is this, he's a teachable man,

or you could say he's a humble man. And here's

this hospitable couple, Priscilla and Aquila,

apparently they're there, they're sitting there

listening, they're probably like, hey, let's

go listen to Apollos, let's go hear what he has

to say. I've heard that he's he's mighty in scriptures.

Let's go. Let's go hear what he has to say and

I bet they're sitting there listening to him

attending the synagogue here for worship and

and listening to what he has to say and they're

probably going wait a minute And he brought us

right right to John the Baptist does he not know

Does he not know who Jesus is? What's interesting

here with a Priscilla and Aquila is that, as

it says there very specifically, they took him

aside and explained to him the way of God more

accurately. They didn't criticize him. They didn't

pass judgment on him. They didn't go, ah, we're

out of here. He's got a different theology than

us. Who is this guy? We got one shot and now

he's gone. They didn't do any of that. They weren't

hitting each other going, wait, this is this

guy. He's way off. Can you believe this guy?

They didn't smirk at his lack of knowing Jesus.

No, they were deeply moved by this man's passion

and his zeal and what did they do and their kindness

and with their gracious heart and their patient

heart, they said, hey, Apollo, come over. We

need to discuss some things with you. They wanted

to tell him. They wanted to explain to him even

more clearly that the one that they speak of

who is coming He has come and he has died on

the cross and he has risen from the grave now

he is the Christ and Here again we find another

fascinating story of apollos in Transition listen

from partial revelation about Jesus to full revelation

about Jesus And this is what I love about this

story, okay? This is what I love about this story,

ready? That God used just an ordinary couple

in the church to do this. He didn't use some

elder or some pastor in the church. No, it's

Priscilla and Aquila, a couple of tent makers

who just are sitting in church and they're going,

hey, something's off. Let's get up there and

criticize him. No. Hey, come to my home. Paulus,

just come over. Just come to my home. I want

to invest in this young man. I just want to pour

into him. I just want to ask him about Christ

and what he knows, and maybe he just doesn't

know. I just want to love on him and care for

him. Just an ordinary couple in the church doing

what ordinary couples in the church should do

pour into other people love other people Care

for other people speak truth into their lives

God didn't use the Apostle Paul God didn't use

Peter or John or Barnabas or Silas or Timothy

to pour into the Apostle Paul He used Priscilla

and Aquila in ordinary couple just attending

church. I love that. God can use anybody to pour

into anyone. I love the intentionality here.

I love the kindness here. I love the patience

here of Priscilla and Aquila. They didn't give

up on him. They didn't turn aside from him. They

didn't just walk away from him. No, they did

the opposite. They said, hey, man, this guy's

a little bit off, but I love his passion. I love

his zeal. He's mighty in scripture. I'm just

going to bring him into my home and I'm going

to ask him a few questions. I'm going to ask

him about Christ and his theology to clear it

up and to even speak more truth into his life.

So what's the lesson here? Let me give you a

second lesson then. That's our second group.

This is our second lesson from Priscilla and

Aquila. It is this. Great ministry happens from

those who are faithfully hospitable and speak

truth and love. Don't give up on people who don't

have the same theology as you. Don't give up

on people who don't have the same theology as

you. Be patient. Be hospitable. Be loving. Speak

truth. Be a Priscilla and Aquila in another Apollos's

life. Invite them into your life. And now what

happens? Verse 27. He wants to go to Achaia.

The brothers encouraged him. Yeah, this is a

good idea. Well, write a letter. They wrote the

disciples to welcome him when he arrived. He

was greatly helped by those Who through grace

had believed and here's here's our new man for

he powerfully refuted the Jews in public where

it is Showing by the scriptures what that the

Christ was? Jesus he got it He got it and now

you got an Apollo's speaking the full gospel

of Jesus Christ A man on fire. By the way, if

you're wondering, if this is the Apollos that

is spoken of in 1 Corinthians, it is. In fact,

the Apostle Paul would write this as Apollos

would go back to Corinth and pour into the church

in Corinth. He would write this in 1 Corinthians

1 and verse 12. He says, what I mean is that

each one of you says, I follow Paul, or I follow

Apollos, or I follow Cephas. I follow Christ

Paul is addressing these divisions that were

happening within the church because because of

the the the men wanting to attach themselves

the individuals One of those individuals was

this man right here Apollos There's also in first

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 3 in verse 6 is is where

where the Apostle Paul says this I planted Apollos

watered, but God gave the growth. That's this

Apollos. So Paul goes to Corinth first, establishes

the churches, leaves. He plants the seed, sows

the seed. Apollos now goes back and he does the

watering. That's what's happening here. Right?

Just kind of tie these things together. It makes

the Word of God so amazing. And here it is. Paul

and Apollos doing this incredible work of missions.

great things for the Lord. And who was the one

that poured into Apollos? Just Priscilla and

Aquila. This man, they didn't recognize, they

didn't know that Apollos would be this kind of

a missionary for the Lord. They just knew his

theology was a little bit off and he needed someone

to speak the truth to him in love. So my encouragement,

my encouragement church, start ministering to

people. Who knows? Who it is that you're going

to minister to? What young man? What young woman?

What other couple? What children that you pour

into where they turn out to be another Apollos?

We just don't know. Let me give you a third group.

We'll be quick. I had to get a little creative

here, but I think it works. The Holy Spiritless

Cohort. The Holy Spiritless... cohort these are

this next group of people are 12 disciples of

john chapter 19 12 disciples of john let's read

John 19 · chapter mention

it as it happened while apollos was at Corinth

paul passed through the inland country and came

to effesus There he found some disciples 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 and he

said to them and to what then were you baptized

and they said into John's baptism 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 on hearing

this they were baptized in the name of the Lord

Jesus when Paul had laid hands on them the Holy

Spirit came on them and they began speaking in

tongues and prophesying these were about 12 men

in all so you have this group of men who have

the same problem that Apollo's has not spirit

-filled, they were not saved, they had not understood

the full revelation of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

and the Apostle Paul comes to them, he finds

these men, these people are learning, these people

who are understanding, these disciples, he says

to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit? And

they said, we haven't heard of the Holy Spirit.

Meaning, they did not know that one could receive

the Holy Spirit. They did not know that one could

actually have the Holy Spirit upon him and it

says there that they were baptized into what

into John's baptism into John's baptism is similar

to what Apollos is saying is that well I am of

the understanding and the teaching of the baptism

of John That there would be one to come the Messiah

to come and here it is that that Paul would teach

to them the full understanding of the Holy Spirit.

That the Holy Spirit, once one believes, would

come upon you and would transform your heart,

transform your life. As it says, they're telling

the people to believe in the one who is to come

after him saying, that is Jesus. Jesus is the

Messiah. Verse five, on hearing this. They're

baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, one of

the only places we find in scriptures of someone

being re -baptized, this time baptized in the

name of the Lord Jesus. And when that happens,

verse 6, when Paul laid his hands on them, the

Holy Spirit came upon him. They began speaking

in tongues and prophesying, and there were about

12 men in all. This is the fourth time here,

okay, that there's a group of people who speak

in tongues, right? Kind of this fourth... or

third mini Pentecost, the actual one, and then

they had these other ones. It was first the Jews

in Jerusalem, the Samaritans through Philip and

Samaria, the Gentiles by Peter, and then fourth,

the dispersed Jews through Paul, right? So these

four major groups of people where when the Holy

Spirit came upon them, they began to speak in

tongues and prophesying just as a way for the

people to see around them that the Holy Spirit

had came upon these people. Not normative today.

Again, what do we start out with? This is a book

of transitions. We're transitioning from one

theology, one understanding to the next. And

this is a moment of transition again. In fact,

this whole section here is moments, little moments

of transition. And here, the Holy Spirit coming

upon this group of people. known, understood

the role of the Holy Spirit upon them, and this

would be then the proof that they were believers.

And let me give you the third lesson here, and

then we'll be done. It is this. What's the lesson

from these 12 disciples? It is this. True believers

are marked by the Indwelling Holy Spirit. True

believers are marked by the Indwelling Holy Spirit.

This is how you know someone is saved not their

theology not their passion Not their competence

in Scripture not their eloquence But what do

they have the Holy Spirit within them are their

lives? Transformed are they changed? Do they

love what Jesus loves? You say, how do I know

if somebody is marked by the Holy Spirit? It

is this. When the Holy Spirit comes upon them,

the seal of the believer comes upon them for

all eternity. They're sanctified. They have the

spiritual gifts that are upon them. And you will

know this by their fruit. What is the fruit of

the Spirit? Galatians 5, 21 to 23. That's how

you know. Do they possess the fruits of the Spirit?

Do they love being with Jesus' people? Christians

love being with other Christians. Do they love

and serve the church? Do they love what God loves?

God is within them, then they're going to love

what God loves. And this is what happens here.

Well, we're off now. This third missionary journey

and we'll find ourselves in Ephesus. Let me tell

you things get crazy really fast Okay, so if

you want to peek ahead this week as to what happens

in Ephesus Go ahead and we'll take a look at

it next week Lord. Thank you For this crash course

here on understanding That you are the Messiah

you have come there's no more waiting around

for the Messiah you are here And a true believer

is one who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ,

repented of their sin, and the Holy Spirit has

come upon them and transformed their hearts.

Lord, I pray that to be true for everyone here.

Their hearts have been gripped by the Holy Spirit,

and if not, would today be that day of salvation?

For their hearts are warmed by your Holy Spirit.

transformed, changed into the image of Christ.

What I do pray is we were all encouraged to be

again like Priscilla and Aquila, just regular

churchgoers, passionate about the mission of

Christ, who want to see other people grow in

the things of the Lord. We saw their patience,

we saw their kindness. We know they spoke the

truth and love. Lord, may we endeavor to be those

who have that kind of intentionality with people.

Let's just reach people. Let's just disciple

them. Let's just love them. And let's see how

you work and grow in those hearts. Lord, help

us to be faithful in these things. In Jesus'

name, Amen.