Turn with me, if you will, to
the book of Acts, chapter 18. While you turn in
there, that last song that we sang on the last verse, boy, it just hit me. Singing that last verse, you
know, not when we come to church, or not when we read our Bibles,
or not when we pray, but it says, when we stand before the throne.
Imagine the awesomeness of that statement. When we stand before
God. When we stand before the throne,
I stand in Him complete. This is all the plea I have Jesus
died in my soul to save. Put away my guilt. That's all,
that's all the hope I've got. This is He died for me. Thank you, Gary, for picking
that song. Having considered last time This
passage of Scripture, I'm going to be honest with you, was a
real blessing to me. There's some things contained
in that passage of Scripture that I'll be honest with you, until I dealt
with it last week, until I got to studying on it and struggled
with it. I just never considered before,
never considered the depth of it. Somebody asked me, why did
Christ die? I'd have to sit there and think,
you know. Then I wouldn't have come up
with it. But having considered last time why our Lord was baptized, this evening I'd like to pick
up where we stopped. And I want to pick up this evening
in this passage of Scripture, Acts 18, And actually in the
25th verse is where I would like to pick up, for it spoke of this
certain Jew named Apollos. And it says in the latter part
of the 25th verse, while he was teaching diligently the things
of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. Now, I told
you last time, that word only there, it means merely, merely,
merely. And you know, there's a sense
in which much can be understood by someone that is the Spirit
of God here, pointing out a mistake or a lack or an inadequacy that
someone is doing to let you see the negative side. He knew merely
the baptism of John. See, that insinuates that there
was something that he wasn't doing. He knew merely. What he's saying is Apollos knew
only as far as the baptism of John taught. Well, what was John teaching? That'd be my next question. That'd
be my logical question. He taught merely, he knew merely,
he knew only the baptism of John. Well, to bring us back up to
speed, turn back to Malachi 4. Malachi 4. Now this book, Malachi, it's just
a, this is a matter of history, but the book of Malachi was written
right at 400 years before the Lord Jesus Christ was born. In
fact, I've got one in one of the Bibles that I've got. It
gives about when it was written, and it says in there 396 or 397
BC, and that pretty well agrees with everything that I've found.
The book of Malachi, it's a It's a matter of history. It was recorded. They know when the Lord was born.
So the Lord spoke for the last time through a prophet, through
Malachi, about 400 years before the Lord Jesus. And then 400
years of silence, no prophet, no word, no nothing. But the last word, from God was
found, and here it is, Malachi 4.4, Remember ye the law of Moses
my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel
with the statutes and judgments. Now what did he say? He said,
Now listen, this is the last word I'm going to give you right
now for a while. They didn't know that. But that's the last
thing he said, Remember, put to mind, be mindful of. what the law of Moses says, the
demand. In other words, don't forget
what God demands. Don't forget. It is God's standard. Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children
to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. Remember, he said, I'm going
to send you Elijah the prophet before the dreadful day, the
coming of the great and dreadful day. Actually, that means the
greatest and most revered day of the Lord. What was he referring to? The
birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The coming. The setting forth.
the manifestation. You say, how do you know that?
How do you know that it says there that he was going to send
Elijah the prophet and he was going to turn the heart of the
fathers to the children, the heart of the children to the
fathers? Let me show you who he was talking about. Turn over
to Luke 1. Luke 1. He was talking about
this Elijah that was going to come. Turn the heart. Luke 1 verse 13, But the angel
said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard, and
thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son. Thou shalt call his
name John. And thou shalt have great joy
and gladness, and many shall rejoice. For he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor
strong drink. And he shall be filled with the
Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. And many of the children
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall
go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts
of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom
of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Created
and ordained is what that word means. Prepared for the Lord.
So this one that the Lord talked about in Malachi, I'm going to
send Elijah, who is he? Well, the Lord himself revealed
who that was. That's John the Baptist, is who
he said, coming in the spirit of Elijah, the prophet. So John, the scripture says,
was sent to turn the hearts That is, to remind them of their need
of, is what that means. I know that John can't turn a
heart. You know that. You know that no man can turn
another man's heart. But to remind them, that is that
last verse that we read, verse 17 of Luke 1, those that were
prepared for the Lord. And this need that John was bringing,
expressing. It was found and expressed in
baptism. Now, I reminded you last time,
turn over to Matthew 3, 5 while I tell you this. Matthew 3, 5. Until John came, they had never
seen baptism. This was new. They had never
seen baptism before. How did John know to baptize?
Well, the Spirit of God put it upon his heart to baptize. John didn't think that up himself.
Scripture says that this man was sent of God. So what was John expressing when
he did? The Lord had said in Malachi,
I'm going to send my prophet, Elijah. In Luke 1, he says that
Elijah that I told, that was John the Baptist coming in the
spirit of Elijah. And he's going to come turn the
hearts, that is, to remind the people of their need of a substitute. That's what he's going to do.
And he's going to be coming and baptizing those that had been
prepared for the Lord, ordained and created for the Lord Himself. Matthew 3, 5 and 6, "...then
went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region
round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan confessing
their sins. Acknowledging their sins is what
they were doing. Four hundred years. Four hundred
years they had not heard from God. And then a man comes on
the scene, John. And he's out there in the desert
in the Jordan River baptizing people. And these people are
out there acknowledging confessing their sins, acknowledging their
need of. Now, I know this. Obviously,
not all that were baptized of John were believers or were the
elect of God. I know that. But I can tell you
this. All that were the elect of God
at that time, during that period, were baptized of John in that
region. with preparing them, telling them. That's just like
right now. I can stand here and preach the
gospel of free grace. And all that hear my voice may
not believe, but all that believe hear the gospel of free grace
when they're saved. All that hear it may not believe
it, but all that do believe it heard it. See what I'm saying?
John was baptizing. And he was baptizing a bunch
of them. All coming out there being baptized. What were they
doing? John was setting forth something. He was setting forth
their need. Remember the law of Moses. Remember
what it is. You're a sinner. You're a sinner
against God. That's what he was saying. And they were out there. So the Scripture is talking about
now back in the book of Acts chapter 18. This man Apollos,
he was a man In verse 25, he was instructed in the way of
the Lord. He was fervent in spirit. He spake and taught diligently
the things of the Lord, but he knew only, knowing only, merely
the baptism of John. So what did he know? Well, I
know this. I can tell you what John knew. John knew that one was coming
whose shoes he wasn't worthy. to bear. John knew that the Messiah was
coming. John knew that men had a need
of the Messiah. But obviously there was something
that was lacking in Apollos' understanding. Something was
wrong. And obviously for Apollos, and
I'm going to show you this in just a minute, obviously for
Apollos, the Lord was showing grace before grace because there
were some that came around John the Baptist and was watching
John baptize all these people. And they weren't going to acknowledge
that they were guilty. Let me show you that. Luke 7,
29. Luke 7.29. There was John out
there. They were baptizing people. Luke
7.29. And all the people that heard
him, Luke 7.29, and the publicans, they justified God being baptized
with the baptism of John. What were they saying? I'm a
sinner. I'm wrong. I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Remember the law
of God. What does the law of God say? By the law is the knowledge
of sin. That's what the law does. The
law doesn't justify a man. The law shows a man what he is
or what he isn't. Let me say that. Remember the
law of Moses. They were out there and they
heard him. They justified. They agreed with.
Lord, you're right. Being baptized, verse 30, but
the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God against
themselves, being not baptized of him. Now, when they say, John,
are you saying that if we submit to this baptism, that we're saying
that we're sinners against God? Is that what you're saying, John?
That's exactly what I'm saying. I'm not going to have any part
of that. I'm not going along with you on that, John. I'm not
going to submit. The scripture says they weren't
rejecting John. Who were they rejecting? They
were rejecting the counsel of God against themselves, being
not baptized of him. Those that were being baptized
of John said, at least outwardly, I'm guilty. At least outwardly,
they were saying that. Those who didn't submit to John's
baptism thought themselves to be wiser than God. I'm not a
sinner. I don't need that. I'm a son
of Abraham. And I'm a Jew. My mama was a
Jew. My daddy was a Jew. I always
go to church. John's baptism was that acknowledgement
of guilt. But listen. The acknowledgment
of guilt without a new heart to see my hope from the deliverance
of that guilt. Now listen to what I'm saying.
The acknowledgment of guilt without a new heart that looks to the
only hope from the deliverance of that guilt is not salvation.
What do you mean? I mean this. Let me just put
it in today's terms. John knew Christ. He knew Christ. John was filled
with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. John was the one
the Spirit of God spoke to when the Lord walked up and John says,
Behold the Lamb of God. John knew Him. John recognized
Him. The Lord had told John, The one
on whom you see the Spirit of God to sin. That's the Son of
God. John knew. John was setting forth
the need of the Redeemer. John was setting forth the guilt
of those that he baptized. That was John's baptism, the
acknowledgment of guilt. That's the baptism of John, the
acknowledgment of guilt. But as I said a moment ago, You
can preach total depravity. I can sit here and preach the
whole message on the total depravity of man. I can sit here and remember
the law of God. And I can preach and tell you
all the Ten Commandments and tell you there ain't one person
here that's ever loved the Lord as God with all of his heart.
There ain't one man, ain't one woman in here that has ever acted
perfectly before God and kept the Sabbath holy. You never have
done that. I can sit here and tell you from
the crown of your head to the sole of your foot, you're all
as putrefying sores. There's none good, no, not one.
Nobody has ever sought after God or ever thought an imagination. Your heart is evil continually.
And I am telling you the absolute truth. But there ain't no hope
in that. I can beat you so far down in
the ground, you'd never get up again, scripturally speaking.
But there's no hope. I can tell you, you are nothing
but a maggot. But unless this maggot has a
Savior to look to, where's the hope in that? What hope is there? Apollos, the script, it's what
I said a while ago. It's when the Spirit of God tells
us something on a negative note that gives us an indication of
what He doesn't know. It says that He knew only the
baptism of John. He knew man's problem. I can tell you, you're lost.
You're lost. You're wrong. You're wrong. You're
dumb. But can you give me some hope?
Can you tell me anything? Can you give me some hope? Some
life? I never like to leave a service.
I always kind of watch myself. I try to, Brother Scott. Don't
ever leave anybody on a negative note in a service. Don't leave them with no hope.
Set forth the Master. The good news is not that a man
is depraved, though he is. The good news is Christ came
to save sinners. Here is the good news. When I
stand before the throne and I stand in him complete, and this is
my plea, Jesus died my soul to save. There is some hope there. Apollos knew or he was acquainted
with John's baptism which pictured guilt. He knew that. He knew men were guilty. But
he didn't know of the fulfillment of God's promise to deal with
that guilt in a substitute. All he knew was John's baptism. And John's baptism was a confession
of sin, a total depravity loss. Remember the law of God. Remember
God's law. Apollos was eloquent. Mighty
man in the Scriptures, instructed in the way of the Lord, fervent
in spirit, taught diligently the things of God, but he only
knew the baptism of John. He knew something about the problem. Baptism. Baptism is really a
confession of the guilt of sin. Now you think about when a man
is baptized. You know what he is saying? Baptism. I'm guilty. Baptism acknowledges
the justice of God. If I died, then God's just. If I died with Him, I got some
hope. Baptism exhibits the need of
a substitute, and it sets forth the demand of God for satisfaction. He knew only the baptism of John. How do you know that, Marvin?
Verse 26. to speak boldly in the synagogue,
whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto
them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly." Aquila
and Priscilla heard him preach, and I'm telling you, he was laying
it down. I mean, he was just talking about
he knew his Bible. He knew those Scriptures. And
man, he could quote them, and he could set forth, and he knew
the baptism of John, and he knew the guilt, and he knew something
about the nature of men. But I'm telling you, when they
were listening, they were listening for Christ. And every time a
believer listens to somebody preach, you know, there's a whole
lot of truth that's being preached by false religionists. You know
that? There's a lot of truth that is
preached. I can listen to some men preaching,
I'm telling you. But I, well, be honest with you,
probably about 95% of what they're saying is true. I mean, you know,
I'd sit down with anybody on television, I'm telling you about
95% of them is telling you the truth. But you know, the only
problem, almost without exception, is what they don't say. They
were listening to what Apollos was saying, and he was eloquent.
I mean, he had it down. What he was saying was right.
But it was what he was not saying that was getting them. A man
can stand up and preach a lot of morality and not preach Christ. What they heard was what they
didn't hear. And that's what bothered him.
Man, when a man stands up and if he's not preaching the sovereign
grace of Almighty God to set forth a Savior, a Redeemer, the
Substitute, the Atonement, the Satisfaction for an elect people
before the foundation of the world, then they didn't preach
the gospel. They didn't preach any good news.
They preached law and be right. I told people one time, I can
tell you about the story of Moses. There was a man named Moses.
He had a wife and three sons and their three wives. And he built a boat. And he went
in that boat. And all the animals went in that
boat. And the rain came down. And it rained for 40 days and
40 nights. And later, Open up the window,
and he sent out a raven, and the raven came back, and later
he sent out a dove, and it came back. And you know what? Everything
I told you was true. But it wasn't the gospel. Why? It wasn't concerning Christ.
That boat was a picture of Christ. And Noah and his family was a
picture of the elect. Those preserved in Christ. And
the rain was a picture of God's judgment. It fell on Christ.
And those in the boat was a picture of those who were kept and preserved. That's the gospel. The gospel
is concerning Christ. And John, I mean, Apollos here,
he was eloquent in the baptism of John. But Priscilla and Aquila
picked up something They heard Him and took Him off for themselves
and expounded unto Him the way of God. Who were they expounding? Well, you know who they were
expounding. The way of God. Who? The Lord Jesus. He said,
I am the way. John 14 says, I am the way. He
is the way of God. They expounded unto Him Christ. They expounded unto Him exactly. More perfectly, exactly. And
the Scripture says, when he was disposed to pass unto Achaia,
the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him. Look at this. They're getting
ready to give you a little bit more information around here
about the one that was disposed, about Apollos, who when he was
come helped them much which had believed through grace." Who
believed through grace? Apollos believed through grace.
Here he was preaching. He knew the Bible. But this man
exhibited a teachable spirit. He exhibited the mannerisms of
a man that God had called out of darkness. You know, it's amazing
to see some, not all, but some, Here was Apollos. And man, I'm telling you, he
was preaching. Obviously, he was preaching things
that were found in the Scriptures. He knew them. He knew the Scriptures.
No doubt about it. But there was just one thing
he didn't know. He didn't know the way of the Lord more perfectly.
And Aquila and Priscilla heard that. And they picked up on it
and brought him off to the side. And they said, I'd like to talk
to you for a minute. Can we share a few things with you? We want
to tell you about this one who is the hope of those that are
guilty. And Apollos obviously heard him.
I'm talking about he heard him. By the grace of God, he heard
him. And the Scripture says that when he was disposed, when he
willingly left for Achaia, he was given a hearty recommendation. from the brethren to be received,
he exhibited a work of God's grace. They said, listen, you
want to receive this man. This man right here has believed
through grace. Through the grace of God, he
believed. He heard what they said. And you know, when God
breaks a man, that's the hardest thing in the world to do. Nobody
likes to be told that they're wrong. But you know whenever
God breaks a man, that man just says, you know what, Lord, you're
right. I was wrong. You're right. I see it now. Yeah. Yeah, I understand that.
He believed through grace. And the Scripture says in verse
28, For he mightily convinced. This is how they knew that he
believed through grace. Here's the evidence of it. He
mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly. showing by
the Scriptures that Jesus was Christ. Now, Apollos now, he
preached more than a man's guilt. He preached more than the law.
He preached the fulfillment or the fulfiller of that law, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He preached Christ and Him crucified. But I was kind of taken aback. When I looked at that first line
there in verse 28, for he mightily convinced the Jews, and that
publicly. It wasn't that he convinced them
in the sense that they were found to be believers in Christ. That's
not what it means. When it says he mightily convinced
them, it doesn't mean that he gave them a new heart, or it
doesn't mean that he convinced them to truly believe. It doesn't
mean that. He mightily convinced them. This
is what he means. This is what that line there
means. He mightily convinced. It means this. He had the last
word. He had the last word. He spoke with them concerning
Christ out of the Scriptures. And he did this by taking what
they said they believed. He took their Bibles. Men will
say, I believe this cover to cover. That's what they say.
Really? Well, let me ask you a couple
of questions. That's what he did. He backed them up in a corner. He mightily convinced them. The argument of Apollos after
the Lord by the Spirit of God through a man and his wife, Priscilla
and Quilla. They listened to this evangelist,
is what he was. He was there preaching. And I
mean, just as I said a while ago, he was mighty and he was
laying it down. And they listened to him preach
and they heard something that they didn't hear. And they took
him off to the side and they expounded unto him the way of
the Lord more perfectly and immediately. something happened. He began
to convince, or he backed into a corner. He had the last word
with the Jews. His argument, using the scriptures
that they said they believed, was so weighty and so powerful,
and the passages that he used, or that they was so pertinent that they weren't
able to answer him. They couldn't stand against the
Word. They couldn't object to the text
that he used, or they couldn't refute how they pointed to Christ. That's what it means. The Scriptures
are written so that they perfectly point to, and they give honor
to, and they magnify the Lord Jesus. And they never teach salvation
by man's work, by man's will. Never. Never. Apollos heard these
two people. They expounded unto him Christ.
The Spirit of God opened his heart and they wrote a letter. They said, when this fellow comes
right here, this one that has believed through grace, receive
him. We believe God's done something
for him. And he began to use the Scriptures now. And he wasn't
just preaching the baptism of John anymore. What was he doing?
He was preaching Christ. That's what he says. He mightily
convinced the Jews and publicly showing by the Scriptures that
Jesus was Christ. You know, we're going to show
anybody anything. Bottom line is this. Really,
my opinion don't matter. My opinion. Everybody's got an
opinion. Well, I think. You know, when
you take the Scriptures, the Scriptures set forth without
question God's sovereignty. Christ is God's Christ. And God has a people. You say,
somebody says, well, I just don't believe in, I just don't believe
that God you know, loved one and hated another. I just don't
believe that God loved Jacob and hated Esau. I just don't
believe that. So let me ask you this, then explain it. Explain
it away to me. I just don't believe that God
chose a people before the foundation of the world and chose them to
be holy and without blame before Him in love, in Christ. I just
can't believe that. Well, then what are we going
to do with Ephesians 1? I just don't believe that God
has chosen you unto salvation before
the foundation of the world by the sanctification and setting
apart of the Spirit of God and belief of the truth. Well, let's
explain 2 Thessalonians 2.13. You see what I'm saying? What
happens is, Apollos began to mightily convince, or he backed
into a corner, or he had the last word. They couldn't answer.
The problem is that we don't understand what is being said,
or men will take it out of context. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. They say there it proves that
God loves everybody. No, it doesn't. It doesn't. It says that God so loved the
order of man. That's what it means, that He
gave His Son. He loved the order of man. I
understand that we'll have to go to another Scripture and it
will say that out of every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue
that God has an elect people. But the Scriptures will shut
every man's mouth. And all the world becomes guilty
before Him. And a believer will bow to Him
and say, Lord, as You say it is, that's the way it is. Here
was a picture of a man. Here was a picture of a man that
knew a lot of stuff. Lord willing, next week, if you've
got your Bible still open, Lord willing, I want to just read
something to you. And this is where we'll pick
up next week. Look at Acts 19, verse 1. I'm just going to read
this and we're going to have a word of prayer. Acts 19, 1. It came to pass that while Apollos
was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper coast,
came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples He said unto them,
Have you received the Holy Ghost since you were relieved? And
they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there
be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what
then were you baptized? And they said unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with a baptism of repentance,
saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should
come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Paul explained. who should
come. And when they heard this, they
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. You know, men
know a lot of things. But when God reveals Christ to
them, they know one thing. Paul said it like this, I preach
Christ and Him crucified. I preach Christ and He is the
Redeemer. I preach Christ. Apollos was a man that God showed
mercy to. He called him out of darkness.
What did he know? He only knew the baptism of John.
What was the baptism of John? It was the admittance of guilt.
I'm wrong. He remembered the law of God.
I'm wrong. But Apollos heard Priscilla and
Aquila, two people, preach Christ to him. And the Lord blessed
it. He called him out of darkness. And from then on, he started
preaching. You know, that happened to me, Scott. I knew a lot of
stuff. Man, I'm telling you, ask me,
I could have told you how much I knew. And then one day, the
Lord was pleased to call me out of darkness and I realized I
didn't know anything. I just thought I knew something.
May the Lord be pleased to bless this message to our heart. Brother
Scott, after Gary comes and leads us in a song, would you dismiss
us in prayer?