The Lord is with Paul - Pastor Tom Loghry
In Acts 18:18-19:7, Paul and those that he has met along the way offer teaching and correction to some others who have gaps in their understanding in order to further spread the Gospel message.
Transcript:
Acts 19, four through seven. Paul said, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about 12 men in all.
Let us pray. Dear Father, as we come before your word this morning, we pray that you would open up our hearts, open up our hearts so that we would have a teachable spirit. Open up our hearts, father, so that we would seek the gifts that you give to us in Jesus Christ. We ask this in his name. Amen. You may be seated.
So who here loves to be criticized? Huh? No, no, no takers. What? Why am I not surprised? Most of us aren't huge fans of being criticized, even constructively criticized. And I think there are, there are at least two reasons why. The first is our ego, our pride. Criticism shatters any delusion of our own perfection. And at the same time, when someone criticizes us, it kind of raises our, our hackles. We think to ourselves, who do you think you are? That you're so better than me, that you can lord your opinions over me. The second reason, I think that, why we dislike criticism is that it can often turn up feelings of, of guilt or remorse, kind of thinking, ah, I should have, I should have known better. Or, there I go again, messing everything up, and on and on and on. Yes, we don't like criticism.
And yet, sometimes we just need to hear it, because it's the truth. I remember when I, I was a kid, I'd always fight it tooth and nail. I just have this vision in my mind of sitting at my grandma's counter and trying to do some math equations, and her trying to help me do the math and myself just throwing a fit because in my heart I hated the idea of not being able to figure it out myself. It is always a difficult medicine to accept when maybe you haven't been doing something right. It doesn't taste great, but time has taught me to take it over the years. And by taking it, I don't mean ignoring it. We live in a culture today that glorifies brushing off all criticism, like, well, you can think whatever you want, i'm just gonna do what I'm gonna do. That's a foolish attitude to have. Now, of course, some criticism should be ignored. We see Jesus himself, of course, do this, and he had every right to do that at every turn 'cause he was the only one that was beyond any critique. But we should not ignore all criticism, even criticism poorly communicated to us, criticism that might not be at all constructive in its presentation, because sometimes that sort of criticism still contains grains of truth that we should not let slip away.
I begin in this way because today's passage presents two instances in which good criticism could have been resisted and the truth lost, instances in which ego could have rejected essential help. So we're going to meditate on this example, and we're also going to meditate on the particular knowledge of the truth that was gained by those involved. So we pick up in Acts 18, starting in verse 18. Says Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, I will come back if it is God's will. Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all of the disciples.
So you'll recall as we last, last left off, Paul had spent a good deal of time, at least 18 months in Corinth and God had given him some great success there, and at this time now he is departing. He's departing ultimately to make his way back to the church in Antioch. So he is gonna be departing from the Eastern Port Cenchreae. He's going to be kind of meandering his way down here to Jerusalem, which will take him back to Antioch.
Now before he leaves, Luke notes that in accordance with a vow that he, he had taken, he has all of his hair cut off. Now, that leaves us wondering, what sort of vow did he take? In the Jewish religion, in the Jewish faith, there is a precedent for making such vows. The one that most immediately comes to mind is taking a, a Nazarite vow. We see that in, in Numbers six. That was the sort of vow that Samson was under, you might be familiar with this, the story of Samson and how he was not to cut his hair. Now such a vow does reach its conclusion and you're supposed to offer your hair, you cut it all off, and then you, you present it before God in the temple. So this could have been the conclusion of such a vow. It could have been the beginning 'cause he is like, well my hair's gonna get really long, so I'm, I'm gonna call it and cut it all off right now so it has some, some room to grow. Some scholars though aren't convinced that this is a Nazarite vow because that sort of cutting would've had to have taken traditionally within the land of Israel, and Paul is not within the land of Israel. So it could have just been a similar sort of vow. We don't know, but this just is a good reminder to us that Paul is truly Jewish and there's no problem with practicing the, the Jewish traditions here 'cause it's, it's coming from scripture and it something that's within permission within the Christian faith. It doesn't contradict his total reliance upon Christ. And it may have been that he had made this vow as a response of thanksgiving to how God had been faithful to him in Corinth.
So he makes this vow, cuts off his hair, and he departs and makes his way towards Syria, and he does so by going through Ephesus. You'll see Ephesus here on the end of Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. I won't get too much into the details of Ephesus, though I could here 'cause he just spent some time here. We'll do that next week. But just so you know, it's a major city. It's a top five city in the Roman Empire, probably around a population of 250,000 people. So it's a good place to visit to try to preach the gospel. He goes into the synagogue there, as he traditionally does, to, to reason with the people there, to try to persuade them that Jesus is the Messiah. And he apparently has enough success that they would really wish for him to stay there longer. But he declines, but he assures them that he will come back provided that God wills it.
And just that little note there. That's a, that's an important kind of attitude I think to have, and one that we should have for ourselves in making our own plans. Some of you might be familiar with, how James, in the book of James, in James four 15, James says, instead you ought to say, if it is the Lord's will, we'll, we will live and do this or that. So we see that sort of attitude on Paul's part. He's like, I have a plan. I'd love to come back here, but ultimately I'm submitting to God's will and plan for my life and, and that's the sort of attitude that we should have even as we go about making plans for our lives.
And so he continues on from Ephesus and makes his way down to Caesarea. You see Caesarea right down there on the coast, and then he goes to Jerusalem, and then this is kind of the transition point between his second and third missionary journey. So the map changes and we see how he, in the previous one, he had gone from Jerusalem up to Antioch, so he does go back to his home base. Remember, that's a sending church for him, and then he's going to begin his journey from Antioch back into the areas that he had previously ministered in in Galatia and Phrygia. He's visiting the churches that he had established in order to strengthen the disciples there. And what we just see here is that Paul is not a deadbeat dad when it comes to these churches. He's, it's not as though he goes, preaches the message and he says, okay, good luck. He's invested in their success. He wants them to be healthy, growing, thriving churches, and so he's circling back around to them. Continuing on in verse 24, Luke then tells us about the, about what transpired in Ephesus during Paul's absence.
It says, meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained him, to him the way of God more adequately.
So we have a new character introduced here. Apollos, he's a Jew, he's from Alexandria. Now Alexandria is in Egypt. Some of you might be familiar with that. There used to be a famous library in Alexandria. It was a known center of learning. You can almost say, imagine, this would be like saying, oh, he came from Oxford or from Cambridge. So there's already a suggestion here that he is a very intelligent fellow. There was a significant Jewish population in Alexandria, it was in Alexandria that you had the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced, known as the Septuagint. And as, as Luke testifies here, Apollos was kind of, the kind of guy that you would expect coming from Alexandria. He was very bright, he was very learn, learned, he was knowledgeable, he, and he knew the way of the Lord. He, he taught about Jesus accurately, though it says that, Luke says that he only knew about the baptism of John.
So there seems like there are some, some missing gaps in his, his understanding of things. And so we see Priscilla and Aquila take him aside to explain the way of God more accurately, more, more fully. And just as kind of a side note here, it is interesting to see the role that Priscilla plays here because she's mentioned first, and, and that's the case in the Greek also. And it suggests that she plays a significant role here in explaining things better to Apollos. And so the way that this kind, this kind of detail is helpful for us, for just thinking about the role that women play in the life of the church. So we'll see Paul elsewhere in First Timothy, second in 1st Timothy two and three, and 1st Corinthians 14 indicate that men are supposed to be elders in the church. And the tradition of the church testifies to that, that, that men were always traditionally the elders in the church. But that doesn't mean that women were not involved in the life of the church. You had women who were deaconesses, and we see here that a woman was helping a significant person, Apollos, come to a better understanding of the faith in the context of their home. And so once again, we see, as we've kind of seen throughout Acts and also just going even back to the ministry of Jesus, of how the position of women in society is, is really elevated. They're not being told to, to go away.
Now when we think about the lack of understanding that Apollos apparently has here, it seems to relate to baptism in some way, 'cause he was only familiar with John's baptism. And we'll, and we're going to dig into that a little bit more deeply as we go along here. And just, just as another note here, and just thinking about the way that they approached him, notice that they didn't address him publicly. They invited to them, him into their home and discussed these things, offered this explanation privately. So they weren't trying to, to shame him, they weren't trying to embarrass him. They weren't trying to make themselves look good. Oh look, we, we showed this smart guy from Alexandria that he is not actually as smart as he thinks he is, kind of thing. It was a very constructive approach and that's instructive for us also. You might, you know, in the, in the life of the church, in the community of the church, someone might be explaining something and you'd be like, oh, you know, I don't know if that's quite right. And probably the best thing to do is to be able to take that person aside and then explain things rather than deciding, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna totally show up this person right here in a way that wouldn't be helpful for, for them, and probably not helpful to their, to their hearers, because everyone will be distracted by the conflict.
So apparently Apollos was receptive to what they had to share because we read in verse 27, it says, when Apollos went to go to Achaia the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he had vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
So he goes to Achaia, which, again it, it is the same region as Corinth, and we'll learn later that he was in, in fact, in Corinth. So he is going back to where Paul had just been and he has a very effective ministry. He's strengthening a young church there. In fact, Apollos is so effective, he's so popular there that later on Paul has to address a little bit of a controversy that arises in the Corinthian church. He talks about this in 1st Corinthians three, where some people are bragging like, well, I'm with Apollos and I'm with Paul. So a really significant guy who benefited the church greatly there.
Returning his attention to Paul, Luke tells us of a similar encounter that the Apostle had when he returned to Ephesus. We turn to chapter 19, Acts 19, verses one through seven. Says, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They answered, no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. So Paul asked, then, what baptism did you receive? John's baptism, they replied. Paul said, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in, in Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about 12 men in all.
So Paul, as he goes to, when he arrives at Ephesus, he, he meets some disciples. Now we're not told who these disciples were disciples of. Now it says that they're only familiar with John the Baptist's baptism. So we might assume that he was, they were disciples of John the Baptist. They could have been so directly, they might have been secondhand disciples of John the Baptist. So you might imagine that some of John the Baptist's disciples went to other parts of the Mediterranean and made their own disciples.
And so that could have been the case here with these, with these fellows. The, the primary question that Paul presents to them in verse two is, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And their response is, is, is really kind of striking. They say, no, we have, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. Which is kind of surprising 'cause even Jews would've heard of the Holy Spirit before. So there seems like there's some real deficits in their understanding here.
Now, before we go much further in talking about the Holy Spirit, it's important to understand that the Holy Spirit is not an it. The Holy Spirit is not a force. It's not like the Christian Star Wars version of the, of the force. The Holy Spirit is a person, he's the third person of the Trinity. So when we look at the scriptures, we find that the Father is described as God. The Son is described as God. The Spirit is described as God. And that all these three are persons, and yet there's only one God. And so this is how we come to the doctrine of the Trinity based on the descriptions of, of, that is given in the scriptures, that there's one God, and yet there's these three persons who are referred to as this, this one God. And there, and there's various scriptures that testify to this. One great passage that brings this all together is Galatians 4:6. Paul writes, because are, because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba Father. So notice there you have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The Son sends the Holy Spirit into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out Abba Father.
Now this seems to be something that sets apart these, these fellows from Apollo. It doesn't seem that Apollos was unaware of, of, of the Holy Spirit. And Apollo certainly wasn't ignorant about Jesus either. But it appears that these fellows might not have even known about Jesus because we look in, in verses four through six. In Paul's explanation, he says, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus. Now, if they already knew about Jesus, Paul wouldn't have had to explain to this. All they know is John's baptism of repentance, which was, it was an act of repentance, a turning away from sin in anticipation of Christ's return. But as we might imagine, if John's disciples left before, for instance, Jesus was pointed out, Hey, that's the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, or these were secondhand disciples, they might not have even known any of that. The, the baptism that Jesus brings goes beyond an act which signifies one's commitment to repentance. The baptism Jesus brings is baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Now, John the Baptist talks about this in John one. Now the gospel of John is written by the disciple John, but he's talking here about John the Baptist. In verse 32 he says that John the Baptist gave this testimony. I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. That's on Jesus at the time of Jesus' baptism. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
Now think about the significance of that. We just talked about how the Holy Spirit is God, he's the third person of the Trinity, that the Holy Spirit is going to come upon us, such that we would be baptized in the Spirit. And earlier in Acts, Jesus says the same thing himself to the disciples. In Acts one verse four through five, he says, on one occasion, while he was eating with them, Jesus gave them this command: do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Now this sending of the Holy Spirit, this gift of the Holy Spirit fulfills prophecy that was given 500 years before. We look at Ezekiel 36, verse 25 through 27. The word of the Lord says there, I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you'll be clean; I'll cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I'll give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I'll put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
I just, I, I wanna emphasize that Jesus isn't coming up with anything new here. There is no innovation here. What we have is fulfillment. And notice what is promised, that with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the bread and butter of the, of the Spirit's presence in our lives is that we would actually walk in God's ways. We would follow his decrees and be careful to keep his laws. Because there's a transformation that has occurred. We no longer have hearts of stone. We have hearts of flesh now. Now, of course, as we go on in the record that Luke gives us in Acts, we see that happen on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit descends upon the believers and, and Peter's gospel message that he gives to the crowd that gathers as everyone's speaking in these foreign tongues, so that everyone's hearing a testimony of, of what God has done. We notice that in Acts 2: 38, that the good news that Peter brings is not just about forgiveness, it's about the coming of the spirit. When the people are eager to respond positively to Peter's message, they're under conviction, Peter tells them this, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We don't wanna neglect this. This is a big part of the gospel message. Yes, forgiveness is a big part, but also that God is going to make his home in us through his Spirit, and that this is going to bring about a radical transformation in our lives. He's taking up tenancy in us so that we are made a living temple of God and our lives are completely renovated.
Now, all of this is new to these disciples that, that, that Paul is talking to. They're not, they're not familiar with any of this, and so Paul baptizes them. He baptizes them and then he lays his hands on them, and it's at that point that it's apparent that they, they become baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now, it's interesting that this doesn't happen with Apollos. We don't see, he was only familiar with John's baptism, and yet we don't see him getting rebaptized. Now, is it possible that he was, and Luke didn't record it? Possibly, but it seems like a pretty significant thing that would've been recorded. There is some scholarly opinion that suggests that Luke implies that Apollos actually already was baptized in the Holy Spirit despite his partial knowledge. When we go back to that, that passage, looking at verse 25, you'll see that it says he spoke with great fervor. Now, in the, in the Greek it says zeon pneumati, which means fervent in spirit. And so the question there, is that just speaking generically of, you know, he's just a, a light, you know, a spirited kind of guy, or was Luke implying there that he was fervent in the Holy Spirit? Some scholars suggest that's what Luke's implying here. And so because he is actually baptized in the Holy Spirit, there is not a baptism that has to occur here. It's not, it's not necessary.
But in the case of these disciples, there's significant gaps. And when we go through the record of acts, we do see that baptism in the spirit is not strictly limited to the time of, of water baptism, but for particular reasons. So we look at Acts eight. It's interesting, we see Samaritans who are baptized in the name of Jesus, but then they're only baptized in the Spirit once Peter and John show up and lay their hands upon them. In Acts 10, we see the Holy Spirit come upon Cornelius's, Cornelius and his household, the Gentile household, and then, uh, Peter says, okay, we better water baptize these guys because God's showing that they're accepted. Which was kind of the point in both cases, was that God was trying to make clear demonstrations that yes, the gospel is not just for the Jews, it's for the Samaritans, and the gospel is also for, for the Gentiles.
But that sort of separation between the two, I don't think we should take as the norm now. We can't, you know, God, God is obviously showing his liberty in these, in these things by what's transpired. But normally, when a person undergoes water baptism this is a sign and seal of their union with Christ by faith, which includes their baptism in the Holy Spirit. The water baptism is a sign of the Spirit baptism. The baptism in water does not produce anything in itself. It's just water. What's essential is that we have actual faith in Christ, and this is why sometimes we see people who have been baptized and then they go on and live lives that don't look Christian at all and totally walk away from the church. Why? Because apparently in some way that wasn't perceptible to us, they didn't possess a genuine faith. But when we're thinking about water baptism and spirit baptism, the two go hand in hand as the water is the sign of the spirit baptism, so that we can speak of there being one baptism rather than talking about two baptisms.
In 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul says, for we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free, and we are all given the one Spirit to drink. In Ephesians four, verses four through five, he says, there's one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And and I'm just emphasizing this because there are some Christians that would suggest, well, you can be water baptized, but then, and you can be a Christian, but then later in the life, in your life, you'll be baptized in the Holy Spirit. I just don't think that aligns with the scriptures other than those exceptional circumstances that I just shared with you.
And part of the reason why I think this is because what Paul says in Romans eight, verse nine, he says, you, however, speaking to Christians, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
So it's not possible to say that someone's a Christian and to say they, they don't have the Holy Spirit. If you're a Christian, if you have faith in Christ, and you've been baptized, you can be assured that you have the Holy Spirit, that you are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Now, obviously, you know, when we get into baptism, this brings to mind how, you know, I said that baptism is kind of the follow through of, of a person's faith in Christ. Well, this raises an issue if you've been infant baptized, and some of you here have been baptized since, as infants. So does that mean then that you need to be rebaptized? I wouldn't say so. Some, some people do choose to be baptized again, and I, and I think that's okay. But what I do think is the case here is that when a person is baptized as an infant, it's not automatic that that person is baptized in the Holy Spirit.
That's only going to follow through if that person actually puts their faith in Christ, and then they'll be baptized in the Holy Spirit, and we'll see signs of that in their lives. So the things are a little bit out of order, but they can be rightly ordered because we have brothers and sisters in Christ, historically, presently who are baptized as infants, but demonstrate all the gifts of the spirit. And so we wouldn't wanna deny that reality. But as a church, which is baptistic in its tradition, we would just say that the right way to go about it is faith first. Have Faith first in Christ, and then be baptized.
So we see here that Paul baptizes these men in the name of Jesus Christ, all 12 of them, which kind of is a wink at the 12, Jesus, Jesus' original 12 disciples here. It's an interesting kind of parallel that, that God has ordained. And, and so it's, it's an affirmation of Paul's ministry here by the fact that we see the Holy Spirit come upon these men as he lands, lays hands upon them. That's patterned after what we see Peter and John doing in Acts eight. And it's kind of almost in miniature what we see between Jesus and the disciples and what transpires there after. And once he does that, it's immediately revealed that these, these fellows are, have been baptized in the Holy Spirit. They begin speaking in tongues, they begin prophesying, and this fulfills another prophecy in, in Joel 2, 28 through 29. God had promised, he said, and afterward, I'll pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I'll pour out my spirit in those days.
Now, just because we see kind of the series of events here, he baptizes them, he puts his hands on them, and then they receive the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean that's normative for all time. We see other cases where people are just baptized and, and they're baptized in the Holy Spirit. Laying on of hands is not necessary, nor is it necessary that a person receive those particular gifts of, of speaking in tongues and prophesying and, and there's a present debate among Christians, whether those gifts continue into the present, and I don't really want to, I don't have enough time to get into that this morning. But it's important to know that it's not essential that you have the gift of tongues in order to be counted a Christian. Paul himself talks about this in 1 Corinthians 12:30, says, do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? And the answer's no. Not all Christians do, not all have, not all people have the same gifts. The universal sign of someone being baptized in the Holy Spirit is Christ himself being manifest in our lives, where we see a new life beginning to emerge in us. And Paul talks about this in Galatians 5, 22 through 23. He says, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, otherwise known as patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That's the universal sign that someone is baptized in the Holy Spirit, that they have Christ living within them. And if we don't see that, and that does lead us to the question, has that person genuinely put their faith in Christ? Have they truly been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Now I want you just to imagine this. Imagine if Apollos had rejected the help of Priscilla and Aquila; imagine if these 12 men had rejected Christ in the, and the promise of the Holy Spirit. The story here would've been become immediately tragic. It would be tragic for themselves, and also for everyone else they would've served. You know, thinking here particularly about the Corinthian church and how Apollo really blessed that church.
The gospel invites us to come to Jesus Christ from a position of need. There is no coming to Christ without our confession of need. We confess that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness, and we also come and confess our lack of knowledge and our need to learn from Christ as our teacher. And we confess our need for the power to be transformed and to serve God and that such power does not reside in ourselves. We need Christ, we need the Holy Spirit who applies his work to our lives, restoring us and empowering us to enter into the way of Jesus, to take up our calling and destiny in him.
So we think about pride. Pride in the situation here is our enemy, because it blocks our way to the Savior, because it must maintain the foolish notion that we can be our own savior. We have to come to the place where we can freely confess our weakness and our guilt. And we can do this because true, true strength and real forgiveness is found in Jesus. So what this passage is testifying to is, is God's work of new creation in Christ. It's a demonstration of that, and it's an invitation for us to receive that for ourselves if we have not yet come to that place.
And for those of us who have accepted that, for those of us who are on the way, we are reminded that we must stand on the truth. When Priscilla and Aquila noticed that there were deficits in Apollo's teaching, they didn't just shrug it off. They lovingly came alongside him and taught him better. Paul could have decided that after all he had been through, you know, he's, he's been in so many arguments and disputes with people, that these disciples of John were, were close enough, that he didn't have to tell them, they didn't have the whole picture. Now, that would've been the socially polite American thing to do. But it would not have been the Christian thing to do. The Gospel is not a trivial game of words, it's not a bag of Scrabble tiles be rearranged in any which way or left blank altogether. The Gospel is the promise of light. It's the promise of true understanding. It's the promise of deliverance from a world that is otherwise shrouded in darkness and confusion. A world that is condemned to destruction.
And so it is for the sake of love that we speak the truth. By God's grace, by the work of the Spirit, even the thickest walls of pride can be torn down to hear the word of Christ. We must pray first for ourselves to that end, that God would remove any walls of pride so that we would truly understand. And let us pray for others and speak to them also to that end. Let us pray.
Dear Father, we thank you for the good news that we're reminded of here in this passage. That you have given us forgiveness in Jesus Christ and that you also give us baptism in the Holy Spirit, so that the Holy Spirit, he comes to reside in us so that we may live in communion with you, so that we may enjoy the benefits of Christ's sacrifice, the sacrifice he made for our sakes.
Father, we pray that in any areas where we need to grow, that you would create within us the sort of humility that we see here in this passage. The humility we see in Apollos, and apparently among these 12 disciples, Father, that we would have that same heart open to hear your word. And Father, help us to help others in their understanding with the loving gentleness and kindness that we see exhibited by Priscilla and Aquila, and with the commitment to the truth that we see on Paul's part. Help us to not be afraid, Father. Help us instead to be committed to the truth above all things. For its own sake, Father, and also for the sake of others, so that they may come to know you truly and be reconciled to you truly in Jesus Christ. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.
Hey there, Pastor Tom here. I hope you enjoyed this sermon I offered to Rockland Community Church. Rockland Community Church is located at 212 Rockland Road in North Scituate, Rhode Island, just around the bend from the Scituate Public High School. We invite you to join us in person or virtually this Sunday as we worship God and hear the preaching of his word. It's our joy to welcome you into our community
Intro/Outro Song
Title: River Meditation
Artist: Jason Shaw
Source:http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jason_Shaw/Audionautix_Acoustic/RIVER_MEDITATION___________2-58
License:(CC BY 3.0 US)