Introduction
Last week we spent our time on the first twenty-two verses of Acts 18 and Paul’s time in Corinth. As usual, he began by going to the synagogue where he reasoned with the people who gathered there about the Lord Jesus Christ. But when some of the Jews opposed him and became abusive, he shook the dust from his clothes and went to the house next door and continued his preaching ministry. And we read how one night the Lord Jesus appeared to Paul in a vision to tell him not to be afraid, but to keep preaching, because the Lord himself was with Paul to protect him from his enemies; and because there were many in the city who had been appointed by God to receive eternal life. So, don’t give up and don’t give in. Keeping preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus Christ, so that sinners will be saved. And so, Paul remained in the city for a year and a half and he continued to teach the people the word of God about Jesus Christ. And some who heard him believed in the Lord Jesus. And when the Jews made a united attack on Paul, their plan was frustrated, because the Lord Jesus was with Paul to protect him.
In the final part of last week’s passage, we read that Paul left Corinth and he made his way back to Antioch, where his missionary journey had begun. And on the way to Antioch, he stopped off briefly at Ephesus. And while he couldn’t stay long in Ephesus, he assured the people there that he would return if it was the God’s will. And as we see from today’s passage, Paul did make it back to Ephesus. But before we get to Paul in Ephesus, Luke tells us about another preacher. He tells us about Apollos who also came to Ephesus.
So, today’s passage is in two parts. There’s the end of chapter 18 which is mostly about Apollos in Ephesus. And then there’s the beginning of chapter 19 which is about Paul in Ephesus.
18:23–28
Luke tells us in verse 23 that after Paul spent some time in Antioch, he set out once again and went from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. So, he re-visited the churches he had planted previously. And when it says he strengthened the disciples, Luke means he strengthened their faith in the Saviour by teaching them. We believe in the ordinary means of grace: the preaching of his word; the sacraments; and prayer. And we also believe that the Lord uses these things to strengthen our faith and to enable us to grow as believers so that we become mature and obedient Christians. That’s why it’s important that all of us attend our services each Sunday, because the Lord uses the things we do here to strengthen our faith and to help us grow up as believers.
And while Paul was doing that, Apollos went to Ephesus. Who was Apollos? Luke tells us that he was a Jew from Alexandria in Egypt. Alexandria was an interesting place, because it was regarded as the intellectual and cultural capital of the Greek world. There was a museum in Alexandria and a library which contained as many as 400,000 books. And since Apollos came from there, it’s no surprise to read in verse 24 that he was a learned man. This is a man who had studied a lot of the books in Alexandria’s library. And he also possessed a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. So, he had studied the Old Testament Scriptures and knew them back to front.
And there’s more to say about him, because this Jew from Alexandria had also been instructed in the way of the Lord. That is to say, he had been instructed in the way to be saved. So, this Jew from Alexandria was a believer. We don’t know how, but he had heard the good news about Christ and had believed. And now, according to verse 25, he spoke with great fervour. More literally, he spoke with fervour in the Spirit or he spoke with a fervour which comes from the Spirit of God. And he taught about the Lord Jesus accurately. And so, he was a thoughtful and faithful preacher, preaching the good news about the Saviour accurately. And he wasn’t dull or dry or boring, because the Spirit of God enabled him to preach with great fervour and passion and power.
However, there’s one small blemish in what Luke says about him and it’s that he knew only the baptism of John. Presumably that means that he didn’t know that the apostles were also baptising new believers. He perhaps thought that baptism was something which John the Baptist had done, but there’s no need to do it now that Christ has come. He may have thought that baptism was a defunct practice. Everything else he taught and preached was accurate. The only blemish on his ministry was his understanding of baptism.
And Luke tells us in verse 26 that he was speaking boldly in the synagogue. Presumably he was doing what Paul did and he was trying to convince the Jews in the synagogue that Jesus is the Christ, God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King who came into the world to save us from our sin and misery. He wanted them to put their faith in Christ for salvation.
And Priscilla and Aquila were there. Remember them? We heard about them last week. They were living in Corinth when Paul arrived there. And it seems that they were already believers when they met Paul and he worked with them for a time in their tent-making business. And whenever Paul left Corinth, they went with him. But when Paul visited Ephesus briefly on his way to Antioch, he left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. We don’t know why Paul left them there, but it was just as well that he did, because as they listened to Apollos, preaching in the synagogue, they noticed this small blemish in his ministry. They spotted that something was not quite right in what he was saying. And so, they invited him to their home, where they explained to him the way of God more adequately. So, it’s not that what he was saying was completely wrong. It’s not that he didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. Most of what he was saying about Christ and salvation was accurate. But what he was preaching needed to be tweaked slightly. He needed to make a slight adjustment to what he was saying and doing. And presumably what they needed to teach him was about baptism and its place in the church.
And, of course, notice that they didn’t correct him in public, but they took him to their home to correct him in private. That’s normally the right approach with sincere, but misguided, believers. We don’t want to crush someone’s spirit by correcting them in public.
Sometime later, according to verse 27, Apollos wanted to go to the region of Achaia. Like Paul and the apostles, he didn’t want to remain in the same place, but he wanted to go from place to place with the good news of salvation. And the brothers — the other believers — encouraged him. And they wrote a letter of commendation for him to the believers in Achaia. And Luke tells us that when he got there he was a great help to the believers, because he was able to refute the Jews in public debate. So, when they argued with him that Jesus was not the Christ, he was able to show them from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ, the Promised Saviour, and they should put their faith in him.
Application
And by this story about Apollos, the Lord has made clear to us that there were other preachers in those days apart from Paul and the apostles. The book of Acts tells us mostly about the work of the apostles: and especially the work of Peter and Paul. But there were others, like Apollos, who preached about Christ in those days.
And of course, while not everyone is called by God to be a preacher, nevertheless God does call some to preach. And those he calls, he equips with the necessary gifts and attitude so that they’re willing to learn all they can about the Saviour so they can teach God’s word accurately. Apollos had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures and he was willing to learn more and to be corrected even, because he wanted to preach God’s word as accurately as possible. And then God also fills his preachers with his Spirit to enable them to preach with spiritual fervour.
And we must pray to the Lord to raise up more and more ministers like this in the Presbyterian Church to fill the churches that are vacant — and there are many vacant churches right now, because there’s a shortage of ministers. And we must pray to the Lord to raise up more and more ministers like this to plant new churches in places around this island where there are no Presbyterian churches. We must pray to the Lord to raise up more and more ministers to preach and teach God’s word so that many are converted to the faith and believers are strengthened in the faith and churches are planted and built up. We must pray for this, because we want this island to be filled with churches where people are worshipping the Lord our God and giving him the glory and honour he deserves.
19:1–7
Let’s move on now to the second part of today’s passage which is about Paul in Ephesus. So, some time after Apollos left Ephesus, Paul arrived there. And Luke tells us in verse 1 of chapter 19 that he found some disciples. According to verse 7, there were twelve of them.
Now, these are not the only disciples in Ephesus, because we know that Priscilla and Aquila were there. And verse 27 of chapter 18 refers to ‘the brothers’ — that is, the believers — who encouraged Apollos to go to Achaia. So, there were more disciples in Ephesus than these twelve. But Luke is focussing on these twelve for the time being, because there was something unusual about them. Paul clearly noticed that there was something not quite right about these twelve disciples, because he asked them in verse 2 if they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. So, they had presumably made some kind of profession of faith, but still there was something ‘off’ about them. And so, Paul asked them about the Holy Spirit. And they replied in verse 2 that they had not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. And Paul dug a little further into what they knew and had experienced and he asked them about their baptism. And they replied that they had received John’s baptism. Either they had been baptised by John the Baptist himself in the River Jordan and had now travelled to Ephesus, or some disciples of John the Baptist had travelled to Ephesus to tell them about John and his message.
And John’s message, you might remember, was all about the one who was to come. He told the people about the person who was coming after him. After me, he said, will come one who is greater than me. And you should follow him and not me. You should believe in him and not in me.
John, of course, was referring to the Lord Jesus. And God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus who would baptise us, not with water, but with the Holy Spirit. John baptised people with water as a sign of the good news of the gospel. And when I baptise people today, I’m doing the same thing: baptism with water is a sign of the good news of the gospel. Baptism with water points to the good news of the Saviour, who gave up his life to pay for our sins and who gives us his Spirit to enable us to believe so that our sins are washed away.
So, John the Baptist’s message was about the one to come. Believe in him and not in me. That was John’s message. And that’s what Paul explained to these twelve disciples in Ephesus. Do you see that in verse 4? He told them that John’s baptism was for repentance. It was about turning from our sin and turning to God for forgiveness. And he told the people to believe in the one coming after him, who is the Lord Jesus.
And Luke tells us that when these twelve disciples heard this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. And so, while they were called disciples in verse 1, and while they had made some kind of profession of faith, it now appears that before Paul came to Ephesus they didn’t really know the Saviour and they weren’t trusting in him. But now that Paul has come and has explained to them that the promised Saviour has come, they put their faith in him. And since they now believed in the Saviour, Paul baptised them in his name. And when Paul afterwards laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on the believing Jews in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost; and as he had come on the believing Samaritans in Samaria in chapter 8; and as he had come on the believing Gentiles in Cornelius’s home in chapter 10. The Holy Spirit enabled these new believers in Ephesus to speak in foreign languages and to prophesy so that it was obvious to everyone that he had come on them and that they too have been accepted by God because of their faith in the Saviour.
Application
One of the commentators suggests that these twelve believers were living in a kind of salvation-historical time warp. In other words, it was as if they were frozen in time and they didn’t realise that Christ and his Spirit have come to save and to renew God’s people.
So, every time I read this passage it reminds me of an old Laurel and Hardy film. In fact, I noticed that when I preached on this passage at the midweek years ago, I referred to it. For anyone under 40 or 50, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were a comedy duo who used to appear in black and white films. And in this film I’m thinking about, one of them was playing the part of a soldier who didn’t realise that the war had ended years before. And so, he’s still sitting in his trench, with his uniform on and with his rifle at his side, ready for the enemy to attack, but also wondering why it’s been so quiet for so long. Somehow he had missed the news that the war was over. And these twelve disciples in Ephesus had somehow missed the news that the Lord Jesus and his Spirit have come to save and renew God’s people.
So, they had heard either from John the Baptist himself or from John’s disciples that the Saviour would come one day who would cleanse them from the stain of their sin and guilt and give them peace with God. They had heard that message and they have believed it and been baptised. And that’s all good. They knew they were sinners who deserved to be condemned and punished for all that they had done wrong. And they were hoping that God would do what John said he would do and he would send the Saviour.
In this way, they were like the Jews. The Jews believed God when he said in the Old Testament that he would one day send the Saviour into the world. And so, the Jews were waiting for the Saviour to come. And these disciples believed John when he said that God would one day send the Saviour into the world. But what so any of the Jews didn’t believe and what these twelves disciples did not know is that the Saviour has come. Jesus Christ has come and he’s done everything necessary to save us from the condemnation we deserve for all that we have done wrong and to make peace for us with God.
He’s done everything necessary, because, for us and for our salvation, he lived the life we ought to have lived, which is a life of perfect obedience to God. And for us and for our salvation, he gave up his life on the cross as the ransom to pay for our sins. And for us and for our salvation, he was raised from the dead and he was exalted to heaven to receive the promised Spirit which he now pours out on his people.
Because he lived a perfect life of obedience for us and because he died for us, everyone who believes in him is justified, which means God forgives us for all that we have done wrong, because Christ took the blame for us when he died. And God treats us as if we’ve done everything right, because Christ shares his perfect obedience with us. And so, because of Christ, and through faith in him, we are justified: pardoned and accepted.
And because he was raised from the dead and exalted to heaven to receive the promised Spirit, he pours out his Spirit on his people to enable us to believe in him for salvation and for eternal life in the presence of God. And his Spirit works in us to renew us in God’s image and to make us the kind of people we were always meant to be: which is people who love the Lord and want to worship him and to obey him and to live our lives for him.
John and his disciples told people to believe in the one who was coming after John. And these twelve disciples believed what they had been told. But they had somehow missed the news that the Saviour has come. But whoever hears the good news that the Saviour has come and that he did everything necessary to save us receives the joy of forgiveness and peace with God and the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God where we’re be perfectly happy and holy for ever.
This message is as true today as it was when Paul preached it in Ephesus. And so, we’re not to wait for any other Saviour. We’re not to bide our time, waiting and hoping for some other kind of Saviour to come. We’re not to sit still and do nothing. We’re to believe in the Saviour who has come, who is a perfect Saviour who has done all things necessary for our salvation. We’re not to sit still and do nothing. We’re to believe in him. We’re to lean on him and rely on him for peace with God and for eternal life. And we’re to rely on him and his Spirit to live a better life: to be a better man or woman or boy or girl; to be a better spouse; to be a better parent or child or sibling or friend; to be a better employer or employee; to be better. We’re to rely on Christ for forgiveness and we’re to rely on his Spirit to renew us and to live our lives for Christ the Saviour.
And just as I close, it’s interesting to note that Paul emphasised these things in his New Testament letter to the Ephesians. So, after he left them, he wrote to them. And he began his letter to them by praising the God and Father of the Lord Jesus who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing which comes to us from Christ the Saviour. And he tells them that among those spiritual blessings which we receive because of Christ is redemption, so that we are set free from the punishment we deserve for our sins and shortcomings. And then he went on to remind them how they received the Holy Spirit from Christ who is a deposit guaranteeing what is to come, which is eternal life in the presence of God. Christ has come. He’s done everything necessary to save us and to give us eternal life in the presence of God. And so, we’re not to wait for another Saviour. We’re to believe in him and we’re to keep believing in him, because he’s the perfect Saviour, who has already come for us. And he’s coming again for us. And when he comes again, he’ll gather together everyone who believed in him and he’ll bring us into the presence of God.
Sermons and Stuff 