INTRODUCTION

Paul begins his third missionary journey in Ephesus, and the Lord confirms His presence with Paul through extraordinary signs, causing the Word of God to overcome all opposition. It was true then, and it is true today. The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. Whatever you face, whatever you need, Scripture is your light, your power, your peace, your wisdom.  

The Text: “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, he said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Gost since ye believed?” Acts 19:1-20

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When Paul returned to Ephesus, he found certain disciples of John who did not know that Jesus had come and had not received the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:1-4). When those twelve disciples believed in Christ, they were given Christian baptism, and Paul laid his hands on them and prayed for them to receive the Spirit and they spoke in different tongues and prophesied (Acts 19:5-7). From there, Paul began preaching the Kingdom in the synagogue until he was forced to separate from them and began teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus for about two years (Acts 19:8-10). 

Some really extraordinary miracles happened during this time, which caused even some of the unbelieving Jewish exorcists to invoke the names of Jesus and Paul, which seriously backfired, causing a great reverence among the Jews and Greeks for the gospel (Acts 19:11-17). And many believed in Jesus, confessing their sins, and publicly repenting, particularly of their superstitions, and the word of God grew mightily (Acts 19:18-20). 

THE BAPTISM OF JOHN

Last week, we said that Apollos was a disciple of the school of John the Baptist, but he clearly knew the Lord and only needed some minor instruction. But here we have twelve disciples who don’t appear to know that Jesus had come and had not heard of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:2-4), which was the particular promise of John that would accompany the Christ (Mt. 3:11). While this variation may seem strange, it also underlines that baptism really is tied to discipleship and teaching. To be baptized into Christ or in the name of the Lord Jesus is to be baptized into His school, His teaching, His way. Those twelve had received John’s baptism of repentance, but they were only taught to look forward to the Messiah. When they believe and receive Christian baptism, God sent a mini-Pentecost in Ephesus confirming the presence of Christ and the apostolic authority of Paul (cf. Acts 8:17). This was now the fourth “Pentecost” in the book of Acts: Jerusalem (Jews), Samaria (Samaritans), Cornelius (God-fearers), and Ephesus (Jews and Gentiles) (cf. Acts 1:8). 

SOFT CESSATIONISM

One of the questions that Christians have wrestled with over the centuries is whether we should expect miracles and signs of the Holy Spirit. Broadly, those who believe that the sign gifts have ceased are called “Cessationists” and those who believe they continue are called “Continuationists” or more popularly “Charismatics” or “Pentecostals.” We are what you might call soft-cessationists. A significant part of the reason for the extraordinary gifts given to the apostles was to prove that they had the right to speak for God and write the New Testmant (2 Cor. 12:12). When the New Testament was finished, that particular apostolic gift ceased, but we don’t at all believe that the Holy Spirit has ceased or that miracles have ceased. We simply don’t believe that anyone has that apostolic authority any longer, because Jesus Christ is the fullness of God’s revelation (Heb. 1). 

BATTLE WITH THE POWERS

A bunch of this passage echoes earlier stories in Scripture on purpose, underlining that this is the same Jesus at work bringing His Kingdom further into this world. We have “twelve” who receive the Holy Spirit and speak in different languages (like the twelve apostles), followed by extraordinary miracles (like Peter), followed by an inverted “seven” (Acts 6), and people trying to “buy” the Holy Spirit (Acts 8). As Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (Jn. 14:12). When God rises up to deliver His people, the “magicians of Pharaoh” often attempt to mimic that power as the Jewish exorcists attempt to do here. But this always backfires, as is currently happening with secularism. 

APPLICATIONS

The central miracle of the Holy Spirit is regeneration. As Jesus said, “you must be born again.” This is not merely a spiritual experience. We preach repentance in Christ – death and resurrection in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Gal. 2:20).

This is the power to be delivered from the powers of darkness through the forgiveness of sins. This is what baptism proclaims, and this is what the Holy Spirit confirms. But just as there were disciples who had been baptized that did not know Christ, we must constantly preach this Christ who gives His Holy Spirit without measure. 

And this change always has public ramifications. The Word of God rules in the Kingdom of God and so restores and glorifies nature, colliding with the Kingdom of darkness, setting the captives free.

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INTRODUCTION

While Paul takes a brief sabbatical to visit and encourage a number of the churches, the Word is going forth mightily in public through a man named Apollos and in private through a refugee missionary couple. This is how Christ rules the nations: through His living and active Word.   

The Text: “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquilla; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow…” (Acts 18:18-28)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Here, Luke summarizes a fair bit of travel: Paul fulfills a Nazarite Vow in Cenchrea (near Corinth) before sailing to Ephesus and begins preaching (Acts 18:18-19). Asked to stay longer, Paul leaves, promising to return, heading to Jerusalem for a feast, and ends up at his homebase of Antioch before working his way back through Asia Minor encouraging the churches (Acts 18:20-23).

Apparently Aquilla and Priscilla stayed in Ephesus while Paul was traveling, and this is a “meanwhile…” backstory preparing for Paul’s return to Ephesus in Acts 19. While they were in Ephesus, Apollos, a very gifted apologist and a disciple of John the Baptist showed up (Acts 18:24-25). Aquilla and Priscilla took Apollos aside and further explained some things, and after some time, he was sent by the Ephesians to minister in Corinth (Acts 18:26-28). 

PAUL’S NAZARITE VOW

As mentioned above, Paul’s haircut is a reference to a Nazirite Vow, which was basically a temporary priestly vow (Num. 6). Samson was the most famous Nazirite (Jdg. 13:4-7). The central components of the vow were abstention from alcohol and no haircuts. Just as priests were forbidden from drinking in the tabernacle so that they could make careful distinctions and teach God’s law faithfully (Lev. 10:9-11), so too Nazirites vowed to keep strict sobriety for their holy service wherever they went: sometimes for war (like Samson, or Israel, Jgd. 5:1, or probably Uriah, 2 Sam. 11:11) and sometimes for teaching and preaching (like Samuel or John the Baptist). The long hair was a semi-permanent head covering, that was a sign of their priestly service, just as the priests wore head coverings for their priestly service in the tabernacle (Ex. 28:4, 40, Lev. 10:6). It was a sign that because of sin we needed a new “head” to represent us before God.  

It seems likely that Paul had taken a voluntary, temporary Nazirite Vow for all or some portion of this missionary journey, dedicating himself completely to this holy ministry. These were fitting signs of Old Covenant priestly service that was fading away after Christ came (2 Cor. 3). So why was Paul practicing Jewish ceremonies after Christ had come? The answer is that Paul and other Jews were free to keep Jewish ceremonies (without imposing them on Gentiles) until the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. But after Christ ascended into Heaven as our High Priest, no man ought to have his head covered (or have long hair) in worship, since the head of every man is Christ. This is what Paul writes to the Corinthians later, explaining that this is why God has given women longer hair as their glory and covering to honor their head (man) (1 Cor. 11:1-16). But all of this is meant to signify submission to the Word of God. 

MIGHTY IN THE SCRIPTURES

While Paul is visiting the churches, Apollos, a highly educated Jewish man, mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus, where Aquilla and Priscilla had remained. Luke says he was very zealous in the Spirit, having been well trained in the “baptism of John,” which is shorthand for thoroughly discipled in the school of John. Given this glowing appraisal, Apollos was certainly preaching the gospel from the Scriptures, but there were a few details that needed to be ironed out, which Aquilla and Priscilla did privately (Acts 18:26). 

This text is sometimes used to defend women preachers, or husband and wife pastor teams, but elsewhere Scripture is very clear that women are not to have leadership roles in the assembly but remain silent (1 Cor. 14:34-35, 1 Tim. 2:11-15). However, we do not mind underlining the point that women are to be present and learning, and as we see here, a woman in full submission to her husband may be of great assistance in privately encouraging a fellow Christian. And the older women are to teach the younger women (Tit. 2:3-4). Apparently, some Roman Catholics have used this text to try to argue for the necessity of extra-biblical tradition, but as soon as Apollos lands in Corinth, he’s right back to his powerful ministry, centered on the Scriptures (Acts 18:28). 

APPLICATIONS

Christianity is a “religion of the book,” a “religion of the Word.” In the beginning, God spoke creation into existence by His Word, and the rest of Scripture is an infallible record of God speaking and revealing Himself to His people. But many people, even some Christians, want to say something like, ‘the Bible is special, but it is a fallible, human book with many mistakes and human opinions.’ The problem with this is that there is no way of admitting errors into Scripture without unravelling the whole faith. 

But someone might say, ‘I believe in God and Jesus Christ, I’m just not sure about all the details.’ Now, it’s certainly true that someone like that might be truly saved and converted. But you cannot build a coherent worldview and religion on that uncertainty. The Bible itself claims to be the Word of God: “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16), “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). Jesus Himself taught that He came to fulfill the whole Old Testament, down to the punctuation marks (Mt. 5:17-18). And the point is that if Jesus was wrong about that, or Matthew was wrong about recording that, what can you trust? 

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It is our rock, our fortress. We have been baptized into this Word, this doctrine, and it is our power. Martin Luther once said, “I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”

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INTRODUCTION

Here is the record of the challenges Paul faced planting the Corinthian church to which Paul wrote at least two letters which now make up the New Testament. This also appears to be one of the longer stints Paul spent in his mission, and given what we read here and in First and Second Corinthians, it appears that it was particularly difficult. Yet, at the center of this text is the Lord Jesus assuring Paul that He is with him, protecting him, and taking dominion. That same Risen Jesus is still with us today. 

The Text: “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla…” (Acts 18:1-17).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Paul’s next stop was in Corinth, about 50 miles west of Athens, a two day journey on foot or depending on sailing winds, half a day by sea (Acts 18:1). There, he met Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tent-making Jews, recently expelled from Rome by Caesar Claudius, giving us a timestamp of around 52 A.D. (Acts 18:2-3). 

As usual, Paul begins teaching in the synagogue on the sabbaths, teaching both Jews and Greeks, until the Jews become obstinate and Paul leaves (Acts 18:4-6). He begins preaching and teaching in the house of Justus next door to the synagogue, and before long, the ruler of the synagogue is converted along with many others (Acts 18:7-9). 

Around that time, Paul received encouragement from the Lord to keep preaching, and he remained for at least a year and a half, until the Jews brought charges against Paul before Gallio (Acts 18:10-13). However, Gallio rejected the charges, and apparently a bunch of the Greeks took matters into their own hands, while Gallio played the politician (Acts 18:14-17).  

WORD FROM ROME

We don’t know when the gospel first reached Rome or when Paul first got word of the Christians there, but by this point Paul was apprised by Aquilla and Priscilla, who appear to be early missionaries to Rome/Italy. We have two extra biblical sources (Seutonius and Tacitus) that record this expulsion of the Jews from Rome (~51-52 A.D.) over the tumult caused by a Jewish man named “Chrestus,” almost certainly a misspelling of “Christ.” The trouble that Paul faced in many of the cities he preached was the same in other places.

CONSTRAINED SPIRIT

When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia (Thessalonica), Paul “constrained his spirit” or was “constrained by the Spirit” to preach the gospel. Some translations have “word” instead of “spirit,” but the overall point is that at this point he fully occupied himself with the ministry and less tentmaking. This may imply that Silas and Timothy worked or brought provisions allowing Paul to devote himself to that ministry continuously. This was important because the opposition was fierce, and as usual, there came a breaking point with many of the Jews, and Paul took his ministry to the house of Justus. As he does so, Paul cites God’s instructions to Ezekiel, saying, “your blood be upon your own heads” (Acts 18:6). God set Ezekiel as a “watchman” to warn Israel in captivity of their evil ways; if Ezekiel warned them, then their blood was on their own heads, but if he failed to warn them, God promised to require their blood of Ezekiel (Ez. 3:18-21, 33:1-9).  

JESUS RULING IN CORINTH

Even in the midst of this division and controversy, the ruler of the synagogue and others became Christians (Acts 18:8). But that was likely to fuel even more trouble, and we are sometimes tempted to be satisfied with small victories. So the Lord encouraged Paul to keep preaching (Acts 18:9-10), assuring him not to fear and not to quiet down, promising to be with him, protect him, and insisting that there were still many in Corinth that belong to Him (Acts 18:10). Part of this promise is fulfilled by how Gallio dismissed the charges brough against Paul by the Jews, potentially giving Christians a significant legal precedent (Acts 18:14-16), even though it becomes clear that Gallio is likely just being a politician (Acts 18:17). 

APPLICATIONS

When Jesus ascended into Heaven, He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world (Mt. 28:20). But He is not just with us vaguely or generally, He promises to be with His people in particular places. And this promise cannot be disconnected from His authority. He is able to be with us because all authority in Heaven and on Earth was given to Him. But how did He get that authority? By His death and resurrection. He purchased the Church with His blood (Acts 20:28, cf. 1 Cor. 6), and by His resurrection inherited all the nations of the world (Ps. 2:7-12).

Therefore, the Lord Jesus encouraged Paul both with the promise that He would be with him to protect him and the insistence that many people in Corinth were His. And the one promise was for the sake of the other. Christ was with Paul so that His people in Corinth might repent and believe. And this is still true today. For all who know Christ, He promises to be with you in every circumstance, protecting you, and all for the sake of the mission.  

Our job is to be content with obedience. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath saith, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5). Ministers and teachers must be faithful to the Word no matter what, faithful watchmen warning our cities, content with whatever comes, and all Christians must trust Christ and obey Him, resting in His sovereign care.   

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INTRODUCTION

Human beings are inherently religious. We are homo adorans – worshiping man. We will either worship the Creator or some part of creation. Basing your life on some part of creation (reason, experience, science, health, pleasure) ultimately results in despair, anger, and anxiety because all of them are ultimately dependent on you and self-esteem, self-awareness, self-determination, and self-care are a backpack of bricks too heavy to bear. The weight of “self” is too heavy for any of us to carry. 

Paul saw this phenomenon in Athens, and our culture is currently at “crush depth” with these mantras. But the gospel is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to carry us, and He is risen from the dead. 

The Text: “Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry…” (Acts 17:16-23).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

While Paul was waiting in Athens for Silas and Timothy to arrive from Berea, He became greatly disturbed at all the idols and began debating with the Jews in the synagogue and with the Gentile God-fearers and those in the market (Acts 17:16-17). And it caught the attention of the leading philosophical schools, the Epicureans and Stoics, particularly because Paul was preaching the resurrection (Acts 17:18). 

They brought Paul to the Areopagus (The Rock of Ares/Mars’ Hill) where their councils were often held and asked him to present his teaching (Acts 17:19-20). Luke adds that the Athenians were particularly anxious to know the newest theories about everything (Acts 17:21). Paul begins his speech by acknowledging that the Athenians were very religious (full of fear of the gods), citing even an altar dedicated to an unknown god, and Paul says he has come to proclaim Him to them (Acts 17:22-23). 

EPICUREANS AND STOICS

Epicureanism and Stoicism were both philosophies of despair. Socrates was condemned to die for rejecting the gods, and Plato and Aristotle had attempted to build a transcendent basis for truth without a personal transcendent God. Epicurus (341-270 B.C.) was a materialist and a hedonist, but he meant “hedonism” as avoidance of pain and strict moderation. He saw belief in the intervention of gods and fear of death as the cause of much pain, conflict, and suffering. Epicureanism focused on the need for self-discipline to find tranquility. Zeno (334-262) founded Stoicism, teaching that the good life is lived by the virtues of wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Virtue is simply the highest form of the will in agreement with nature, and with self-discipline reason and logic can tap into the reason/logos of the universe. But Stoicism taught that the universe is an impersonal force governed by fate. Passions can get in the way of this virtue and reason. Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were later famous adherents. 

The fundamental despair resident in both philosophies is the rejection of a knowable and personal Creator God outside of nature and the complete dependence on self to achieve happiness and peace. But apart from God and His Christ, people descend inevitably into self-obsession, anxiety, anger, and relativism.

ANXIETY & NOVELTY

The reason nothing in this created universe can be a sufficient god is because everything in this universe is finite and therefore cannot account for everything. The true God must be the integration point for all things. The true God must take everything into account, otherwise you are always worried that you might be missing something. 

All the idols, the religious anxiety, and the obsession with novelty in Athens go together. And we live in a very similar world. The modern West has largely abandoned the old gods, but we have descended into every form of hedonism that goes with materialism, as well as various forms of fatalism (e.g. identity politics). And this makes people angry, obsessive, and insecure. Our altars are fitness clubs and “licensed therapy” counseling centers.

The human heart is restless and anxious living in God’s world without communion with Him, and we have been fed the lies of self-fulfillment, self-esteem, self-care. But we cannot be the integration point for all things. We are finite creatures, and we cannot hold it all together. We are sinners, and we are dying. But Christ “is before all things, and by Him all things consist… and He is the firstborn from the dead” (Col. 1:17-18, Heb. 1:3). 

APPLICATIONS

Sin is a tendency to turn away from God and ultimately inward. Augustine called it being “turned in on oneself.” And the modern world has championed this move in many ways “be yourself” and “find yourself” and “love yourself.” We live in a therapeutic and psychological age obsessed with how we feel and who we really are, that tends to create an unbearable weight. “You” are the answer, “you” are the captain of your fate, “you” are a god. And yet, you fail, you forget, you sin, and you are not very interesting. 

“Self-care” has become one of the mantras of this self-centered religion and “carefulness” about everything creates anxiety, worry, and fearfulness. The opposite of “care-full” anxiety is of carefree peace and joy. But these are byproducts of worshiping God, rejoicing in the Lord, and casting your cares upon Him (because He cares for you) (1 Pet. 5:7, Phil. 4:4-9). 

George MacDonald once said that the one principle of Hell is “I am my own.” But the great and freeing principle of Heaven is “You are not your own” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

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