44 "How the Work Goes on When Men Move On" Acts 18:18-28 | Sunday, March 29, 2026

You can turn your Bibles to Acts chapter

Acts 18 · chapter mention

18.

Acts chapter 18.

Acts 18 · chapter mention

I want just express my gratitude to

those of you that got involved in

Boulder Love Week uh this past week. We

went out in two different shifts on

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then

again on Saturday, we were able to get

out uh right around 2,000 of those

Easter invitations this week. And so I'm

I praise the Lord for it. I'm thankful

to each of you who gave of your time.

Some of you took time off work to go,

rearranged your schedule, and I'm so

thankful for that. And may God bless

your fruitfulness and service in that

capacity. We have one more all church

outreach uh this coming Saturday ahead

of Easter. And so that'll be our monthly

outreach for April. So I encourage you

to come on Saturday at 10:00 a.m. And uh

we'll try to get out the remaining four

or 500 of those uh Easter invites that

we have. We've sent out 5,000 mailers uh

to the central part of the city as well.

And so, let's be praying for God to to

water that seed and to help us bring

forth fruit that the lost might come to

trust in Jesus Christ. Of course, every

time we labor in the gospel, we face

opposition. And we've had some of that

as well as we've gone through Acts. It

really shouldn't bother us because it's

what's always happened. When you get

bold, threats unfold. When the gospel

goes out, opposition rises. And so, we

want to pray for God to soften the

hearts of the people of our city to draw

them with conviction to the saving

gospel of Jesus Christ. So, I encourage

you to do that. Tonight, we have the

Lord's Supper service at 6 p.m. at our

other location. I encourage especially

our members to be there tonight as we

take these rare opportunities uh to

remember the Lord's death to sing about

the blood he shed the cross he suffered

on for our sake and we give attention

this week uh to his death on Thursday

we'll have our good Thursday service and

focus on the crucifixion of Jesus and

then next Sunday we're looking forward

to celebrating his resurrection on

Easter Sunday and that's the hope of our

salvation. It took both the crucifixion

and the resurrection. I encourage you to

invite somebody to come next week. We'll

have the kids egg hunt. We'll have a

shaved ice truck and uh we'll have some

family portraits available to be taken

as well. And so we're looking forward to

just celebrating the Lord's resurrection

next week uh together. So I encourage

you to prayerfully

uh take in this week and consider your

redemption. And believers, there's no

greater way to remember his death than

by observing the Lord's supper. And so,

I really want to encourage uh especially

our members uh to be here tonight. If

you're not a member, you're welcome to

come and to hear the scripture readings

and to sing the precious songs, but uh

we do practice what's called closed

communion, which means you must be a

member of the church to participate in

the bread and the cup. If you're

interested in knowing more about that,

please don't hesitate to ask. We'd be

glad to have a conversation with you

about that. If you like to join or be

baptized, then we could do that tonight

as well. And so, uh, reach out about

that. Acts chapter 18, as we come to the

Acts 18 · chapter mention

end of Acts 18, this is the conclusion

of Paul's second missionary journey and

also the beginning of his third

missionary journey. And what the text

focuses on is what takes place in the

region of Ephesus or Asia and Aaya where

Paul is at presently in Corinth. What

takes place in these regions while Paul

has gone back from his missionary

journey. And so we're going to look at

that this morning beginning in Acts 18

Acts 18:18

verse 18. And our text will go through

the end of the chapter.

God's word says, "And Paul after this

terried yet a good while, and then took

his leave of the brethren and sailed

thence into Syria, and with him

Priscilla and Aquilla, having shorn his

head in Sinca, for he had a vow. And he

came to Ephesus and left them there. But

he himself entered into the synagogue

and reasoned with the Jews. When they

desired him to tarry longer time with

them, he consented not, but bade them

farewell, saying, I must by all means

keep this feast that cometh in

Jerusalem, but I will return again unto

you if God will. And he sailed from

Ephesus. And when he had landed at

Cesaria and gone up and saluted the

church, he went down to Antioch. And

after he had spent some time there, he

departed and went over uh went over all

the country of Galatia and Friia in

order strengthening all the disciples.

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at

Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty

in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This

man was instructed in the way of the

Lord. And being fervent in the spirit,

he spake and taught diligently the

things of the Lord, knowing only the

baptism of John. And he began to speak

boldly in the synagogue, whom when

Aquilla and Priscilla had heard, they

took him unto them, and expounded unto

him the way of God more perfectly. And

when he was disposed to pass into Aaya,

the brethren wrote, exhorting the

disciples to receive him, who when he

was come, helped them much which had

believed through grace. For he mightily

convinced the Jews, and that publicly,

showing by the scriptures that Jesus was

Christ, that Jesus was Christ. I want to

speak to you this morning for a few

moments on how the work goes on when men

move on. How the work goes on when men

move on. Let's pray and ask for God's

help understanding his word today.

Father, we know that we need you for

these things in your word are discerned

spiritually

and not carnally. I pray that your Holy

Spirit would speak plainly and clearly

through the proclamation of your word to

accomplish the purpose for which you are

sending it out this morning. I pray that

you would grant me clarity of speech and

thought and give us all eyes to see and

ears to hear the glorious truth of your

word that we may trust wholly and fully

in our Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his

glorious name I pray. Amen. Thank you

for standing in honor of God's word. You

may be seated.

In recent years, several influential man

men in Christianity have moved on to

their eternal rewards. You might think

of a man like John MacArthur, one of the

greatest expositors of scripture in our

generation, or a man like Bodie Bacham,

whose fervent gospel preaching brought

countless souls to Jesus Christ. or

perhaps Tim Keller who had a thriving

ministry in Manhattan planting several

churches as and was well known for not

only engaging skeptics but winning them

over to faith in Christ. While we may

not agree on every line of theology or

ministry philosophy, we can agree that

those three men were some of the most

influential Christian voices over the

last 30 years. And yet now every one of

them have moved on to their eternal

reward and are in the presence of Jesus

today. And oftent times when we

experience ministry or leadership

transition when men must move on for one

reason or another, we wonder what will

happen to the work they leave behind.

Sometimes the same thing can be true at

a local level as well. When perhaps your

pastor is led by God to move on from a

particular ministry, it could be a

longtime pastor that you've had that he

felt like it was the Lord's timing to

step down, to retire, or perhaps they

moved on to pastor elsewhere or to go

and plant another church or to go to the

mission field. And when a beloved pastor

uh moves on from that ministry, that's

always a difficult time because that's

someone who's loved you, preached to

you, shepherded your family, and

pastored your life, and so you missed

them dearly. Can I ask, what if the Lord

moved our family on?

What if he called us to go plant a

church in Portland or in San Francisco?

Or what if through the conflict in the

Middle East, the Lord opened the door to

Iran for the gospel and he called our

family to leave and go to Iran to preach

the gospel and plant churches there.

Now, let me be clear that he is not

leading in that way at this particular

time, nor am I looking for a reason to

leave. If the Lord wills it, I would

love to just stay here the rest of my

life serving and ministering here in the

Boulder Valley and at this church. That

would be my will. But what if God's will

is different? See, we often wonder what

will happen to a church when men, for

one reason or another, must move on. And

I imagine that that's what every church

was wondering as Paul moved on from one

place to the next because he had a very

unique itinerate church planting

ministry. He would often go to one

particular city and would stay there

perhaps for just days or weeks or a few

months until the spirit either moved him

on or until persecution ran him out.

That's what we've seen take place here.

And yet Paul has settled down in Corinth

and spent two years there with a divine

protection promise of protection. As we

saw last week, he's been preaching,

discipling this church. But the time

came when the Lord said, "It's time to

move on." And so Paul was headed back to

Syria to his home church in Antioch. But

not before one more attempt to preach

the gospel in Asia. Remember at the

beginning of this second missionary

journey, Paul went through Syria and

Cissia and then through Galatia and

Friia, strengthening the disciples that

they had made on his first missionary

journey. And then immediately from

there, Paul and his team attempted to go

into Asia, but the spirit of the Lord

said no. So they tried to go to Bethnia

and the Lord said no. And then in

Trrowaz, Paul received a night vision

from a man of Macedonia saying, "Come

over into Macedonia and help us." And

they went to Macedonia and preached the

gospel in Philippi, Thessalonica, and

Berea. And Paul was run out of each of

those towns. He comes to Athens and

preaches there in in one of the most

important cities there in Greece. And

then he moves on to Corinth. And that's

been his second missionary journey. And

yet, as he wraps up this journey, he

wants to try one more time to go back to

Asia. And the Lord lets him go to

Ephesus this time. But Paul's ministry

there was rather short in spite of the

fact that the door was open. They asked

him to stay longer with them. You don't

find that response at the synagogue very

often. And yet that was the response

Paul received. Yet he said, "I must get

back to Jerusalem." He had to leave.

Well, what happened to the work in Aaya

and in Ephesus when Paul was gone? I

want to put this very simply. When Paul

moved on, the work went on. That's what

we read. When Paul moved on, the work

went on. Apollos came on the scene as a

very gifted preacher of the gospel and

he went on to have great success in

ministry both in Ephesus but then also

in Aaya. And so I want to say this that

if the work in Asia and Aaya kept going

on when the great apostle Paul had to

move on then the work of Christ will

continue on no matter what. uh if every

man that we know is absent,

the reason why is because man does not

build God's church.

It is the Lord that builds his church.

And that brings us to the main point of

this sermon. When the Lord builds his

church, the work goes on when men move

on. When the Lord builds his church, the

work goes on when men move on. The

structure of this message is gathered

very simply around these two thoughts.

With Paul in verses 18- 23, we learn

that sometimes men must move on. Men

must move on. And then with Apollos in

verses 24- 28, we find that the work

still goes on. So let's examine these

two thoughts here from the scripture.

Number one, sometimes men must move on.

Sometimes men must move on. Beginning in

verse 18, we find that Paul departs from

Aaya to Syria by the way of Asia. And it

tells us that he took with him Priscilla

and Aquilla. This faithful Christian

couple who had been expelled from Rome

and came to Corenth. and Paul partnered

up with them in the tent making

industry. But what we find about Aquilla

and Priscilla is that while they are

tent makers by trade, they're also

hospitable, generous, and faithful

Christian church members. And so while

tent making was what they did, a

Christian is who they were. That was

their identity. I want to say to you

that having a successful business and

working long hours and making money,

those are all good things. But never

forget who you are as a Christian. That

let let your relationship with Jesus

Christ be the primar primary identity of

your life. Use your resources to show

hospitality, grace, and faithfulness and

generosity to the work of Christ just

like Aquilla and Priscilla often did. It

tells us that Paul set sail from Sincria

where he has shorn his head or shaved

his head because he had an unspecified

vow for an unspecified reason. Now, we

could speculate all we want about it,

but what this because this doesn't

include the details, the emphasis is

this. He still held to some Jewish

customs in his life. Why? Because he

regularly ministered among the Jews. And

so somewhere around Corenth, he perhaps

even because of of the divine promise of

protection that he had received that

perhaps he made this Nazerite vow that

God if you will protect me then I will

be completely committed to you which

meant abstaining from alcohol. It meant

from not touching dead bodies or dead

dead animal corpses or whatever it might

be. That was a a Nazerite vow. And so he

says, "I'm going to commit myself to

this work if you'll commit yourself to

protecting me." That's often what they

did. And it's very likely that that's

what's going on here. He fulfills his

ministry at Corenth. He goes to this

town in Sria and he shaves his head

there. He then sets sail

from Sria to the coast of Ephesus.

Ephesus is the Roman capital of the

province of Asia. It was a very

important city and the focus of the next

two chapters in Acts is on the ministry

going on in Ephesus and it was a great

ministry and God does an amazing work in

this church. And this is the same place

where Paul had previously been forbidden

to go in his missionary journeys. But

this time evidently the Lord allowed

him. Let me just pause for a moment and

say to you that sometimes a closed door

is not permanently closed. Sometimes

it's just not the Lord's timing. And so

in your life, if you will just trust the

Lord and follow his will wherever it

leads, you can know that in his timing,

he'll bring you exactly to the place

that you need to be. We don't know all

the answers why, but several uh several

years prior when Paul tried to go to

Ephesus, it just wasn't time. But now it

was because Paul goes there with Aquilla

and Priscilla, leaves them probably at a

home, and he goes to the synagogue and

he begins to preach the gospel of Jesus

Christ. And and in a very rare moment,

you see in verse number 20, they desired

him to tarry longer time with him. They

said, "Paul, would you stay here with

us? We want to hear more about this

gospel. We want to hear more about Jesus

and his crucifixion and his

resurrection, and we want you to show us

more from the scripture so that we might

really understand if these things are

true." There is a wide open door. Paul

will even write in other places that God

has opened a door to him in Ephesus. I

think it's in first Timothy when he

tells Timothy that that a great door is

open unto me here. And that's what's

happening. And yet in a twist,

it says at the end of verse 20, he

consented not, but bade them farewell,

saying, I must by all means keep this

feast that cometh in Jerusalem. Now wait

a second.

God is opening the door here. These

people are open to to hearing and

listening to what Paul has to say, but

you're prioritizing

a Jewish feast over gospel needs. I

mean, make it make sense, please. Well,

what we've come to see in the book of

Acts is that Paul is not led in his

ministry by the opinions of man. And

he's not led in his ministry even by the

needs of the gospel in a particular

city. Paul is led everywhere he goes by

the spirit of God and by the Lord Jesus

Christ. Paul follows God's will wherever

it leads whenever he says. In fact, if

you look at verse 21, he says this at

the end of the verse, "But I will return

again unto you if God will." And he

sailed from Ephesus.

See, evidently Paul had to move on

because the Lord was moving him on.

The Lord was telling him that it was

time to go. And so he leaves Ephesus and

he goes to Cesaria. And then it says

that he goes up, which implies he goes

to Jerusalem and he greets the church

there and then heads back to Antioch,

thus concluding his second missionary

journey. And on this journey, we have

seen Paul boldly preach the gospel. We

have seen Paul win people to Christ. We

have seen him organize and plant

churches. We have seen him beaten and

imprisoned and run out of town multiple

times. We've seen him fearing for his

life and yet comforted by the divine

presence and protection of the Lord

Jesus Christ. It has been quite the

second missionary journey. But the

reality is now Paul is gone.

What happens to the ministry in Ephesus

and Asia and Aaya while Paul's gone?

Well, Paul stays in Antioch for a good

while. And then it says that he leaves

in verse 23 for his third missionary

journey and he returns back to his

initial stomping grounds in Galatia and

Friia. And now he is doing a work of

strengthening and discipling and

instructing the believers and the

churches there. But what's to happen

from in in Ephesus and in Aaya?

Well, what this is making clear to us is

that Paul was led by the Lord to move on

in this ministry.

And sometimes we're going to find that

the Lord leads men to move on. That

sometimes it might be because they've

lived a very long life of a very good

ministry and they've been faithful to

the Lord, but they're up there in years

and it's time to step down. Or for one

reason or another, the Lord says, "It's

time to come home. Well done, thou good

and faithful servant. And so sometimes

that's what the Lord does. But then

there are other times where a pastor

might be led into full-time evangelism

like Paul was on that first part of his

third journey. And they go around the

country or even around the world

strengthening and discipling and

training uh new believers and pastors

and missionaries. Sometimes that's what

God does. Sometimes church planters can

be called to a similar ministry as Paul

where they go to a particular city and

they they begin to share the gospel and

they win people to Christ, baptize them,

train and disciple them and then they

call another pastor to come and take

over that work while he goes on and

plants a church in the next city over.

There are many men who have been called

to that kind of itinerant church

planting ministry. Or it might be that a

pastor is sometimes called to go to the

mission field. Sometimes I'm just simply

saying it's the Lord who is moving

people on. Now there's a balance here

because we if if you start to see an

individual

bouncing around from church to church

every two or three years, sometimes that

can reveal a problem. Sometimes that can

be either the guy's run out of sermons

or sometimes it can be that that there's

problems coming up and he's running from

problems. Hey, pastors aren't perfect

and sometimes that can happen. Sometimes

life and ministry can get hard and it

can get hard on the family and it just

produces a a a fight orflight syndrome

for a pastor even too where when things

start to go bad it's oh we're leaving

sometimes. I can concede that may

happen. But we ought to give them the

benefit of the doubt that perhaps the

Lord is leading them on somewhere else

because that's what he's always done.

But you know what? Sometimes it's not a

pastor.

Sometimes it's a faithful couple in a

church like Aquill and Priscilla because

they were instrumental in the

establishment of that church at Corenth.

They took Paul into their home. They had

a church in their home. They have a

church in their home in Ephesus is what

we read in later of Paul's letters. And

so you've got this couple that was very

instrumental in showing hospitality and

generosity. And they had a good

understanding of scripture so they could

disciple and train others. That's the

kind of people that Aquilla and

Priscilla was. And yet God led them to

move on with Paul to Ephesus. And

sometimes that can happen today too that

there are church members who have

brought many people to Christ. They have

discipled countless people. They have

served in a variety of areas. They've

invited people over to their home and a

and spent time who've uh investing in

them and teaching them. There are people

who have perhaps given you parenting

tips or helped you through uh your young

marriage struggles or they gave you uh

they loved your kids as if they were

their own. There are good and godly

faithful church members in every church

and we ought to thank God for them and

sometimes they feel irreplaceable in our

lives and yet at times the Lord will

lead them to move on as well.

And anytime

faithful people and beloved preachers

and pastors move on, we're often left

wondering, well, where do we go from

here? What will happen to the church?

What will happen to the ministry? Who's

going to take their place? Who's going

to serve in that capacity? Who's going

to preach the word? Who's going to

disciple and train others? We might even

ask, why would the Lord lead them on?

But listen, while it may hurt when

people move on, we don't have to worry

about what will happen because we

already know what will happen. Because

when men move on, the work goes on.

That's what we see in verses 24 through

verse 28. When one man left Ephesus,

another man arrived. We're introduced in

verse 24 to this man by the name of

Apollos. And Apollos was from

Alexandria, Egypt. That's where he was

born. Alexandria was a prominent city in

the Roman Empire with a large,

well-arned, and educated Jewish

population. And Apollos was certainly

one of those. He may have also had

somewhat of a pagan upbringing, seeing

that his name Apollos means given by the

god Apollo. And so it's kind of like how

Timothy was where Timothy's mother and

grandmother were faithful Jewish ladies

but his dad was a Greek and yet Timothy

was well taught in the scripture. And it

seems to be that that was the same with

Apollos here. Apollos was a powerful

expositor, defender and preacher of the

Bible. It says that in verse number 25,

this man was instructed in the way of

the Lord. He knew about Jesus. Whether

he had seen Jesus himself while he was

back in Jerusalem for a feast, if he

heard his teaching, or if somebody else

had come to Alexandria and talked about

this Messiah figure that had been

preached by John that you must believe

on him. But somehow he learned about the

Lord Jesus Christ. It says that he was

fervent in the spirit. He had a burning

zeal and a burning passion to proclaim

the word of God. It says he spake and

taught diligently the things of the

Lord. That word diligently means

accurately and faithfully. So this tells

us this man was a powerful orator of the

true word of God. He had an

understanding of the law and the psalms

and the prophets that pointed forward to

a Messiah. And he believed the Messiah

was this Jesus that he had heard of. But

the problem is what what it says at the

end of verse 25, knowing only the

baptism of John.

John preached that you must repent of

your sin and believe on the one that is

to come, the lamb of God which taketh

away the sins of the world. But

evidently wherever Apollos had heard of

Jesus, he has not yet heard of the

crucifixion of Jesus. He has not yet

heard of the resurrection of Jesus. his

gospel message was incomplete.

And he goes into the synagogue in verse

26 and he began to speak boldly in the

synagogue. But notice it says that when

Aquilla and Priscilla heard him, they

took him unto them and expounded unto

him the way of God more perfectly.

Perfectly is the same word translated

diligently. that that as accurate as he

was and as bold and eloquent as he was,

his understanding was not yet full. Here

is the problem.

Paul has just spent time in this

synagogue preaching and proclaiming that

the crucified and risen Jesus is the

promised Messiah upon whom you must

believe to receive the forgiveness of

sins and the gift of eternal life.

That's what Paul has preached. Now

Apollos comes and boldly proclaims and

persuasively so and accurately so from

the scripture. He proclaims that there's

this man in Israel named Jesus and he is

the lamb of God who has come to take

away the sins of the world. You must

repent and believe on him. But there's

nothing about his crucifixion.

there's nothing about his resurrection

and in fact it almost seems to suggest

that Jesus is is still alive and

teaching in Jerusalem. That's the idea

that that it's getting at here. Can you

imagine the confusion of the people in

this synagogue that this guy has just

come preaching persuasively so that

Jesus is the Christ, but that he was

crucified and risen again and therefore

fulfilled scriptures. And this guy's

just talking about the virgin birth and

he's talking about Bethlehem and he's

talking about Micah's uh prophecy about

the the killing of the children there in

Bethlehem. And and so he's he's dealing

with everything prior to the death and

resurrection of Christ, speaking as

though he's alive. So is did Jesus die

or is he still going? But notice that

Aquilla and Priscilla do not confront

him publicly.

They take him unto them. The idea is

they brought him to their home. Why?

What they can do is recognize this man

is a great preacher of the word of God

and he has a great understanding and

grasp of the prophecies and the psalms

and how they speak to the Messiah. We

don't want to damage his reputation by

calling him out publicly. And so they

take him to their home and they say,

'Look, you're great and you're exactly

right. John the Baptist preached that

exact message, but some things have

happened that you've missed. He suffered

on the cross for our sin. And he rose

again just as the scriptures promise.

And you know what's amazing? This man,

as good as he was with the Bible, and as

great as he was with his words, he

willingly received their correction.

and he began to preach Christ and him

crucified and risen again there in the

synagogue and went on to have a very

successful ministry in Ephesus

while Paul was gone.

But then it says in verse number 27 that

he was disposed to pass into Aaya. So

now he wants to go from Ephesus

backwards to where Paul was to Corinth

and to Sincria and to Athens and to

proclaim this gospel there. And notice

what happens. It says when he was

disposed to pass into Aaya, the brethren

wrote. So the the believers in Ephesus

wrote this letter of recommendation for

Apollos exhorting the disciples in Aaya

to receive him. And watch what happens.

who when he was come helped them much

which had believed through grace.

Apollos was a great help to the church

at Aaya. But notice also in verse number

28 for he mightily convinced the Jews

and that publicly showing by the

scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Apollos was able to convince some that

Paul never could. I almost wonder if

Sines was converted not by Paul but by

Apollos. And yet, you know what happens

when you read Paul's writings about

Apollos?

There was no competition.

In fact, others were trying to compete

in Corenth over who was the better

preacher between Paul and Apollos. and

he said, "Who are we? We're just men.

Don't don't compete over us." And so

Paul is able to recognize that God's

greatly using this man as well. And so

here's the what we need to grasp here is

that for people to understand the

gospel, they must hear it clearly. There

cannot be confusion over the gospel like

there was between Apollos's message and

Paul's message. So let me say to you

today that you must first understand

that you are a sinner who stands

condemned before God. But let you let me

also help you understand that Jesus

Christ is the son of God who lived a

sinless life. He came to earth. He died

on the cross to pay the penalty of death

for your sin. But you must also

understand that Jesus rose from the dead

to secure your salvation and the gift of

eternal life so you could be forgiven.

So you could be justified, declared

righteous before God only by faith in

Jesus Christ. The gospel was

accomplished through Jesus death and

resurrection. And you must clearly

understand it. But let me also say that

understanding it alone is not enough.

You must not only clearly understand the

gospel, you must firmly believe the

gospel. You must deny that there is any

other way to God but through Jesus

Christ. And you must acknowledge that

you are a sinner before him. And you

must fully place your faith and your

forgiveness and your eternal life into

his nailpierced hands as your only hope

of salvation. And friend, if you will

clearly understand the gospel and firmly

believe the gospel today, you can be

saved. Trust in him. Call on Christ.

He'll save you today. The gospel must be

made clear.

But it doesn't matter who it is that

makes it clear. Whether it is Paul or

Apollos, here's what we find. When Paul

left, Apollos arrived and the Lord used

them both to do his work.

See, when men like Paul move on, the

work of Christ goes on.

Sometimes the work of Christ is not

accomplished through preachers, but

through faithful church members like

Aquilla and Priscilla. I want you to

know today that just because you are not

called to preach or pastor this church,

you are a vital part of continuing the

work of Jesus Christ right here in

Boulder. that the way that you teach

those kids in the classroom, the way

that you watch those babies in the

nursery, the way that you go out during

Boulder Love Week and put out over 2,000

Easter invites. The Lord is using your

life, believers and church members, to

do his work. He's using your life. I

want to encourage our church to grow to

be like Aquillas and Priscillus

to invite people over to your home. Not

to talk about politics, not to talk

about sports. We get plenty of that. But

to talk about and perhaps even study

God's word together. Why? That's what

the church did and it's what the church

needs to return to doing. I want to

encourage you that if you're an older

couple to invite a younger couple over

and invest in their marriage and and

give them some some tips that work for

you and and on parenting and things like

that. Invest in them, share spiritual

burdens with each other and then pray

together over those matters. God gives

us a church family so that we can grow

together. And for churches to grow

together, there's got to be people like

Aquilla and Priscilla. So, let me just

say, every one of us needs to be an

Aquilla and a Priscilla. And every one

of us needs an Aquilla and Priscilla in

our lives. We ought to be investing in

others and allowing others to invest in

us just like Paul invested in Aquilla

and Priscilla and they invested in him

and just like they invested in Apollos

and Apollos invested in other churches.

And that's what you see is God's people

working together to accomplish God's

work.

But sometimes

when one witness must move on,

we can trust the Lord has another in the

bag.

He still calls men to preach. He still

calls them to plant churches, to go to

the mission field. He still uses

churches to develop and train up the

next generation. And so when a when one

great preacher moves on, we can trust

that another one is coming. Why? I

really couldn't think of a better way to

say it than how Paul said it to the

Corinthians in his first letter to them

in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Would you

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

listen to what Paul says? Who then is

Paul? And who is Apollos?

but ministers by whom ye believed even

as the Lord gave every man. He says, "I

have planted Apollos watered, but God

gave the increase."

So then, neither is he that planteth

anything, nor he that waterth, but God

that giveth the increase. So listen to

what Paul says about himself and

Apollos. We are laborers together with

God. We're just laborers. He says, "Ye,

the church, ye are God's husbandry." You

know what a husbandry is? A vineyard, a

garden, or a field. God is the one who

owns you. God is the one who's planted

you. And then he says this, "Ye are

God's building."

It is the Lord who builds his church.

And when the Lord builds his church,

when men move on, the work goes on. Why?

The Lord is the builder.

As much as we love

certain preachers, pastors, and members,

we are all simply laborers together with

God.

God is the builder of his church.

Ministers are brick layers,

concrete workers and stone cutters. And

sometimes laborers must retire.

Sometimes they die.

Sometimes they move on and sometimes

they even fail and get fired.

But God always ensures

that there are laborers to build his

church.

He always ensures. And so this church,

this church, no matter what may come in

the years ahead, it is safely held in

the Lord's hands. So I want to encourage

us all as a church to anchor our faith

not to men, but to Christ.

Because even when men go, Christ stays.

And Christ continues the work of

building his church. And if he does that

in his church, he'll also do that in

your life.

There are people in your life who

brought you to Jesus Christ

and you love them and you have a deep

affection for them. There are some who

have poured time into you, who have

purchased meals for you, who have had

you over to their home, and they've been

so influential in your life, and you

love them and value and appreciate them.

And I want to say that that is

wonderful.

But the reality is sometimes God will

move those people in your life on.

And when when the Lord leads someone on

that is that influential in your life,

you can wonder where do I go from here.

Let me quote to you what Paul wrote to

the Philippians when he said this. He

which hath begun a good work in you will

perform it until the day of Christ. The

he that he is talking about is not

himself. It is the Lord. that Paul while

he preached in Philippi and while he

preached in Corenth and won these people

to Christ and discipled and trained them

and loved on them and invested in them.

Paul was the first one to recognize that

who you are today is not because of me.

It's because of Jesus Christ. He has

started a good work in you and he will

finish it even when Paul loses his head

at the end of this book.

believer, anchor your faith not to men,

but to Jesus Christ. When men move on,

the work goes on because it's the Lord

who's building his church. Can I ask you

if you're here today and you're not a

believer to consider what God has done

for 2,000 years

he has continued to build his church

from generation to generation. He has

raised up preachers and teachers of the

gospel. He has raised up faithful church

members, missionaries, and church

planters until this church was started

almost five years ago. All so that you

could hear the gospel today.

God has sustained his work. Though many

men have moved on from this life so that

you could know that Jesus is the savior.

He gave his life on that cross for your

sin. He rose again the third day to

secure your salvation and a restored

relationship with God. If you'll believe

on him today, you can be saved. Would

you trust him? Let's pray. Our heavenly

father, we're thankful that you are an

eternal God.

Though we are mortal, though we are

temporal,

though we die, though we move on, though

we fail, you remain faithful. And you

have faithfully built your church from

its inception until this day. And

millions of souls have been miraculously

saved by the glorious gospel of Jesus

Christ. And I wonder who it will be

today,

who it will be next week, who it will be

that we share the gospel with in the

coming days. There are more that you

desire to save. And in this very church,

you are raising up faithful people,

teachers,

proclaimers of the word of Jesus Christ

to continue your work.

I pray that you would help us to anchor

our lives and our faith not to men but

to the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray for

those who are contemplating the decision

to trust Jesus as their savior. I pray

your Holy Spirit would bring deep

conviction to their soul that this is

true and it's what they need that they

would believe in calling in today.

Please work in our time of response. I

ask in Jesus name. Amen.