number 106 106 number 106 Tell me the story of Jesus Write
on my heart every word ? Tell thee the story most precious
? ? Sweetest that ever was heard ? ? Tell how the angels in chorus
? ? Sang as they welcomed his birth ? ? Glory to God in the
highest ? And good tidings to her. Tell me the story of Jesus Write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard. Pasting alone in the desert,
Tell of the days that are past, How for our sins He was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of His labor,
Tell of the sorrow he bore He was despised and afflicted Homeless,
rejected, and poor Tell me the story of Jesus, write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell of the cross where they
nailed him Thriving in anguish and pain Tell of the grave where
they laid him Tell how we live as one can Love in that story
so tender Clearer than ever I see Stay, let me weep while you whisper
Love made the ransom for me Tell me the story of Jesus Write on
my heart every word Tell thee the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. They say that we'll sing hymn
number six. Number six in our hymnals. Help us thy name to sing Help
us to praise Father all-glorious, Lord all-victorious Come and
reign over us, Ancient of days Come thou incarnate Word, girded
by mighty sword. our prayer attend. Come and thy people bless, and
give thy word success, Spirit of holiness, on us descend. Come Holy Comforter Thy sacred
witness bear In this glad hour Thou who almighty art Thou who
in every heart And there from us depart Spirit of power ? To
the great one in three ? Eternal praises be ? His evermore ? His
sovereign majesty ? May we in glory see ? And to eternity love
and adore Acts 18, pick up where we left
off. The thing that I hated more than anything of us
being gone was not having Wednesday night services. I didn't have
nobody take the Wednesday night service. And I think this is, I try to make this to be one
of the better services that we have during the week because
there's, Always three churches in a church.
Just like Israel, you know, there was elect within the elect. And
you got those that are, you just know that they're gonna be there.
And you got some you hope they'll be there, then you got Sunday
morning, and that does them. They get a good meal enough to
do them for a week. I wish I could eat one meal a
week and get by with it. But that's just the way it is.
And that's a way we all have to look at it, deal with it. But let's start here in verse
18 and read to the end of this chapter. Hopefully God will enable
me to say something about it. And Paul after this tarried there
yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and
sailed thence unto Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila,
having shorn his head in Shingria, for he had a vow. And he came
to Ephesus, and left them there. But he himself entered into the
synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. When they desired him
to tarry longer with them, he consented not, but bade them
farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh
in Jerusalem. But I will return again unto
you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus, and
when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, saluted the church,
he went down to Antioch. And after he had spent some time
there, he departed and went over all the country of Galatia and
Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. And a certain
Jew named Apollos Born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in
the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught
diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism
of John. And he began to speak boldly
in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they
took him and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, Acai, the brethren
wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, who when he was
come, helped them much which had believed through grace. For
he mildly convinced the Jews, publicly showing by the scriptures
that Jesus was Christ or is the Christ. Our Lord and our God. our great
Father, blessed Son, and blessed Holy Ghost, three in one, we
come into your holy presence, and we're so thankful that we
come unto a throne of grace, not a throne of judgment, not
a throne of condemnation, but a throne of grace. Oh, there
we can obtain mercy. There we can obtain mercy. There
you give mercy. There you Give mercy and give
us grace and help us in our time of need. And Lord, we're always
in need. We're in need of you every moment
of every day, waking or sleeping, going or coming, setting or rising. Lord, we need you every moment
of every day. And we're thankful that you know
us, you know everything about us, And Lord, we're thankful
for that. And Lord, we've gathered out
this evening with the saints of God together to worship. Oh, Lord, to hear the gospel,
to hear the word of God. And I'm so thankful to be able
to be here again. So thankful, Lord, bless you
for allowing me this privilege, this honor to stand before the
people of God, the children of God, those you loved and redeemed
by your precious blood. I'm so thankful that I can stand
before them and pray that you'd enable us tonight to worship.
Give me something to say. Give them ears to hear, hearts
to believe, and bring glory to yourself. Save your people in
this place, and please, for those that are traveling, give them
traveling mercies. See them safe home with us again.
We ask these things in our blessed Savior's name. Amen and amen. Hymn number 63. Number 63. Take the name of Jesus with you. Child of sorrow and of hope,
it will join Take it then where'er you go
Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth and joy of heaven Precious
name, oh how sweet Hope of earth Take the name of Jesus with her
As a shield from every snare If temptation grounds you gather
Bring that holy name in prayer Precious name, oh how sweet Hope
of earth and joy of heaven Precious name, oh how sweet Hope of earth
and joy of heaven Oh the precious name of Jesus How it thrills
our souls with joy When his loving arms receive us And his songs
our tongue implore Precious name, oh how sweet ? Precious name, oh how sweet ?
Hope of earth and joy of heaven ? At the name of Jesus bowing
? Falling prostrate at his feet ? And all kings and kin will crown
Him ? ? When our journey is complete ? ? Precious name, oh how sweet
? ? Hope of earth and joy of heaven ? ? Precious name, oh
how sweet ? I get my subject down there out
of verse 28, or the title of my message down in verse 28 here
in Acts 18. It says, showing by the scriptures,
showing by the scriptures, there's nothing more necessary for us
than the scriptures, than for us the word of God. That's how
faith comes, by the word of God. And Paul had been at Corinth,
he had been there for 18 months, and they had a lot of trouble
there, and remember they brought him before the court there, and
there was a fellow named Galio, he didn't want to hear anything
they had to say about their religion, or their customs, or their traditions. They beat one of the men there,
and Paul it says there in verse 18, After this tarried there
yet a while, a good while, after this Thessalonians was beaten,
after he was brought before Galileo, and Galileo said, You all deal
with that yourselves. But our Lord told him when he
first got there, he had a lot of opposition, but our Lord told
him no man would hurt him for he had much people in that city.
Remember what he said here in verse 9 and 10 of chapter 18?
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not
afraid, but speak, and don't hold thy peace. For I am with
thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. And the reason
being, I've got a lot of people, much people in this city, and
they've got to hear the gospel. They've got to hear the gospel.
And so after this, he tarried for a while and he left. And
it says there that he took leave of the brethren. He said, brethren,
I've got to go. He got the men together, and
the brethren, the brothers and sisters together, and said, I've
got to go. And he took leave, and he sailed
into Syria. And he took with him Priscilla
and Aquila. You remember they was run out
of Rome when Claudius Caesar told them that they wanted all
the Jews out of Rome. And when they got there, Paul
met them and they both were tit-makers, all of them were tit-makers.
And Paul was probably out of money, probably discouraged maybe,
I don't know, but anyway he was out of money and he had to work.
And so he began to work with Priscilla and Aquila and they
were tit-makers. And they lived, he lived with
Priscilla and Aquila for quite some time while he was there.
And then it says there in verse at 19, and he came to Ephesus. He had been in Ephesus already,
and he left Priscilla and Aquila there. But he himself entered
into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews, as he always did. He always went into the synagogue
and reasoned with the Jews. And when he did that, He said
here in a little while, he said, they've asked him to stay, but
he says, no, I can't, I just can't do it. And this is the
reason why he said in verse 21, but he bade them farewell, bade
them farewell. He said, I must by all means
keep this faith that cometh in Jerusalem. Now he had shaved
his head and when a Jew shaves his head, that means he's taken
on what they call a Nazarite vow. He took on a vow and he
had to go to Jerusalem to keep that vow. Now let me show you,
you keep Acts 18 and look with me in Numbers chapter six, Numbers
chapter six. Numbers then Deuteronomy, Numbers
chapter six. I want you to see something over
here about this Nazarite vow. And it had something to do with people
shaving their heads and had certain things that they had to do. Well,
he shaved his head. He shaved his head because he
said he had a vow. He said, I've got to go to Jerusalem
and keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem. And I'll tell you,
he had shaved his head in Gershwin for he had a vow. And look what
it said here in verse 2 of number 6, Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them, now this is the Lord telling Moses
to do this, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall
separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves
or make themselves Nazarites, Unto the LORD he shall separate
himself from wine, strong drink, shall drink no vinegar, or wine,
or vinegar, or strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor
of grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or even dried grapes. And all
the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of
the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk. all the days
of the vows his separation. Now listen to this, there shall
no razor come upon his head until the days be fulfilled in which
he separates himself unto the Lord. He shall be holy and let
the locks of his hair grow after that. Now look down in verse
18. So they had certain things that
they had to not do in this Nazarite vow, had to shave their head.
After they kept their vow, their hair could grow again. And he
said in verse 18, And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation
at the door of the tabernacle, and shall take the hair of the
head of his separation, and put it in the fire, which is under
the sacrifice of the peace offerings. Now Paul shaved his head because
he had a vow, And I tell you, he entered the synagogue, had
this vow on him, and he desired to stay, and when they asked
him to stay, and he wouldn't. And he said, whatever means,
I must do it. He said, in verse 20, I don't
care, I've got to keep this feast. Now, I don't believe it was the
Passover feast he was going to, because he already knew Christ
had been sacrificed. He already knew that. He knew
that Christ had been sacrificed. He would not go offer sacrifice
after Christ has been offered. He would not possibly go and
shed blood, offer a lamb in the place. He would not do that.
He would not do that. He never done any of these things
in all of his travels. He never went to Jerusalem to
attend a feast. He never went to Jerusalem to
attend anything. But here he had a vow on him. And I personally think, and I
think if you'll look over here in chapter 20 and verse 16, you'll
see that he's going up there for the day of Pentecost, which
is the day of feast. The day when our Lord ascended
back to glory. And for Paul, verse 16, Romans,
I mean, Acts 20, 16. For Paul had determined to sail
by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia. For he
hastened, if it were possible to him, to be at Jerusalem the
day of Pentecost. That's 50 days after the resurrection
of our Lord. So I think that's what he was
gonna do, that he was gonna go and do the Pentecost. But I know he hadn't been observing
either of these in his travels. And no doubt when he went up
to Jerusalem, he was probably looking for an opportunity to
preach the gospel there. And he knew he wasn't bound by
these Jews. And if God will, look what he
said here now in verse 21. But God bade them farewell, said,
I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem. But listen to this, but I will
return again unto you if God will. if God will. That's the first thing He says,
if God's willing, I'll be back. And that's what we all have to
say, God willing, we'll do this. God willing, we'll do something
else. Look in James chapter 4. James chapter 4. You all know
this very well. We've looked at it so many times
over the years, but this does Remind, bear repeating. He said, if God will, I will
return. You know, we're bound by the
will of God. We are. We really are. And I'm thankful
that we are. I am so thankful. And he said,
if God will, if it's God's will, I'll come back. I will return. And look what is said here in
verse 13 of James chapter four. Now go to now, you that say."
You all just think about this. He says, now, before you start
this, now before you go anywhere, you that say, today or tomorrow,
we'll go into such a city and continue their year and buy and
sell and get gain. He says, why would you say that?
Don't you know you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow?
For what is your life? What is your life? How long is
your life? How quickly does your life go
by? Who would ever think that we would have got to the age
that we are? Who would ever think, you know, that you'd be in the
health that you are at the age you are? But here, look what
he was gonna say. What is your life? And that's what we need
to ask ourselves. What is our life? Well, I'll
tell you what my life is, and I hope and pray that it's your
life. Christ is our life. Christ, what is our life? Christ
is our life. That's what my life is. And look
what else He goes on to say. It's a vapor. It's a vapor. It appears for a little time,
and how little a time it is, and then it vanishes away. That's what a vapor is. And because
your life is so frail and so quick and so fast, you ought
to say this, if the Lord will, if the Lord will, we shall live. If it's God's will, we shall
live. I had a funeral Sunday afternoon. God said, it's my will for you
to leave this world. It's my will for it's time for
you to go. And he said, if we live, if God
will, we shall live. And we won't live no longer than
God wills for us to live. When His time comes and His will
is accomplished in our lives the way He means for it to be,
and we get to the end, God will, we live, and if we don't, we're
leaving here. And that's what He goes on to
say. And we shall live, or Lord will, we'll do this or we'll
do that. Huh? Oh my, don't rejoice in
making your own decisions. Don't rejoice in bragging about
where you're going, but all rejoicing like that is evil. If it's the
Lord's will, if it's the Lord's will. Now back over here in Acts
18, and then he sailed into Ephesus, sailed into Ephesus. Yeah, he's, He sails from Ephesus,
he left Priscilla and Aquila at Ephesus, and when he had landed
at Caesarea, Caesarea is right below Jerusalem. It's a Syria,
right below it, it's Jerusalem's up this way. And it says, and
he had go and landed at Syriza and gone up. He went up to Jerusalem
and whatever vow he had on him, he accomplished that vow. Don't
tell us right now what it was, but he went up later to do something
else. And then he went down to Antioch, went down to Antioch. And I'll tell you what, when
he went down to Antioch, And he went up to Jerusalem, saluted
the church, went back where he started. He started at Antioch. That's where he has separated
him and Silas to the gospel. That's where they said, separate
us under the work where we're in God. And they've done his
first preaching at Antioch. Well, at Damascus, but after
that at Antioch, after he was an apostle. So he's right back
where he started from, in Antioch, and then look what he said, he
spent some time there, and he departed and went over all the
country of Galatia. Now the church at Galatia, now
Paul, he went to Galatia, and you know what he said about them
one time? He said, you know what, you received me as an angel of
God, And you would have gave me your eyes, plucked out your
eyes for me or gave your life for me. That's how when he went
to Galatia and how much they loved him. And he went all over
the country and went back to Phrygia, order and strengthening
all the disciples. And oh my, you know, how did
he strengthen the disciples? With his words, with the gospel. And with his presence, just the
presence being there. I want you to look in Acts 28
and verse 15, what happened to Paul when he was going up to
Rome. You know, he went strengthening
the brethren, strengthening the disciples. You know, it's a wonderful
thing to get strength. You know, when
I sit and hear another preacher preach, I get strength from it.
And I talked to people on the phone. I talked with Bruce Crabtree
or Todd or some other brother. I get strength from that. We
need strength in one another. And that's what Paul said. He
went to visit all those brethren and he gave them strength with
his words, with his presence. He encouraged them and he preached
to them. And look what he said here. Now
he's going up to Rome and he's going up there as a prisoner.
And then it says, and he said in verse 15, and from thence,
when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as
Appi Forum and the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, All these
men, these brethren come to see him. He thanked God and took
courage. You think the brethren ain't
a blessing to one? He said, oh, here he goes being
a prisoner, and them fellas come way out of town to meet him.
He saw him. Thank God, he says, thank God.
Oh, there's my brothers, there's my brothers, there's brethren
that love me, there's brethren that love the gospel, brethren
that love Christ, and he thanked God, and oh my, and he got, he
took courage, he got courage out of it. And now, we're gonna
deal with a new man that we've never met before. A new man that
we never met before in the scriptures, the first time we meet him. And
there's a new man here that's gonna be a preacher. And who
is he? Well, the first thing it says
about him, verse 24, a certain Jew named Apollos. Who is he? He s a Jew. And where s he from? He s from Alexandria. Alexandria
was in Egypt, and Alexandria had a, it was a seat of learning,
and they had a great huge library there, and lots and lots of books. So he was a Jew from Alexandria,
North Africa, and look what it says. an eloquent man. Oh, this man could, he could,
he could use words. He was a very eloquent man. He knowed how to use words and
he knowed how to present words and he knowed how to, to, to
present the gospel, the word of God to people. That means
he was an eloquent man. He was a learned man. He was
an educated man. But Paul, he was one of them
men that said, I don't use the wisdom of man's words. I don't
use it. I don't use wisdom of man's words.
I don't try to keep up with what everybody else is teaching and
instructing and doing all of these things all the time. And
he said, oh, and look what else he did. He was mighty in the
scriptures. Oh, mighty in the scriptures.
Of anything to be mighty in, that's something to really be
mighty in. Mighty in the Scriptures. That means he had a thorough
knowledge of the Bible. All he had was the Old Testament,
but he had a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Mighty in
the Scriptures. And I believe when he got up,
he used those Scriptures. and reason with those scriptures.
And he would start in Genesis and he'd go through there and
he would talk about the scriptures, had a thorough knowledge of the
scriptures. And then look what else it says
there in verse 25. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord. Well, where did he get instruction
in the way of the Lord? Well, God had to instruct him,
and he was instructed in the way of the Lord. And when he
talks about the Lord here, he's talking about Jehovah, God the
Father, and of Christ who would come. Because look what it says,
he knew only the baptism of John. And he talked about the things
of the Lord, diligently talked about the things, taught the
things of the Lord. And here he is, he tried to follow the
way of the Lord, Using the Old Testament and he was preaching
that baptism John he was saying that he didn't know Christ yet
He didn't know Christ had come yet He didn't know Christ had
ever been born yet He didn't know Christ had come on the scene
yet. He didn't know nothing about the rest the death of Christ
He didn't know nothing about the life of Christ He said HE
ONLY KNEW THE BAPTISM OF JOHN! And you know what the baptism
of John was? He preached REPENTANCE and flee
from the wrath to come, for there's coming one after me that's mightier
than I, who's shoelash it, I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy to
unloose. And John was gonna be the one,
the forerunner of Christ, and Christ, he would reveal Christ
and make people to, point people to Christ. Remember, Alex, Andrew,
Simon Peter s brother, and Philip, and John, and James, and them.
John the Baptist POINTED to Christ and said, That s Him! And they
started, they left John and started following Christ. But he didn
t know that. He only knew the baptism of John. But he throttled to follow the
way of the Lord according to the Old Testament. And then look
what it says about him. He taught diligently. And this
man was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent
in the spirit. Oh my, I mean, you know what
that means? That means he is on fire. HE
BELIEVED WHAT HE WAS PREACHING. I MEAN HE REALLY BELIEVED WHAT
HE WAS PREACHING. HE WAS ON FIRE. NOT JUST AN INTELLECTUAL
KNOWLEDGE THAT HE HAD OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, NOT JUST AN INTELLECTUAL
KNOWLEDGE, BUT WHAT HE WAS PREACHING AND AS FAR AS WHAT HE KNEW ACCORDING
TO THE OLD TESTAMENT, PREACHING THE BAPTISM OF JOHN, THESE SCRIPTURES
WERE REAL TO HIM, POWERFUL TO HIM, AND THEY SET HIS SOUL ON
FIRE. He spake with energy, he spake
with conviction, he believed what he was preaching. Back in
George Whitefield's day, George Whitefield come to America many,
many times and preached. Started in Georgia, started up
the coast, preached, and he was up in Pennsylvania preaching.
And it wasn't nothing to him to have 15, 20,000 people, so
he must have had some kind of a voice that forced folks to
hear him. But he was in Philadelphia preaching
up in Pennsylvania, he was in Philadelphia preaching, he was
preaching out in the field. And Ben Franklin, everybody knows
who Ben Franklin is, and Ben Franklin would listen to him.
And he'd go hear him preach, and he heard him preach several
times. And somebody asked him one day, said, Mr. Franklin,
Do you believe what George Whitfield, do you believe what he's preaching?
Do you believe what he's saying? He said, no, I don't, I don't.
I like to hear him, but I don't. But he sure does. He sure believes it. And I tell
you, that's what, you know, if you believe it, and it's real
to you, it'll be real to the people you're preaching to. And
oh my, so he had this great conviction, and he taught the way, and it
says he taught the way of Christ, and he taught diligently the
things of the Lord. And I tell you what, the baptism
of John, they said there's one coming after me. But one thing
he didn't know, he did not know the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He knew the baptism of John, WATER BAPTISM, CONFESSING THAT
YOU NEEDED CHRIST THAT WAS TO COME. HE DIDN'T KNOW THAT CHRIST
HAD COME. HE WAS PREACHING THAT HE WOULD
COME, AND THAT JOHN WOULD POINT HIM OUT. AND THEN LOOK WHAT IT
SAYS HERE IN VERSE 26, AND HE BEGAN TO SPEAK BOLDLY
IN THE SYNAGOGUE. I MEAN THIS FELLA, HE WAS BOLD.
NOT ONLY WAS HE ELOQUENT AND LEARNED AND EDUCATED, Here's
what I'm telling you. He preached what he knowed. He
preached what he knowed. And he spoke boldly. And he's
kind of like Lazarus that come out of the tomb. Like all of
us when we start out. We know so very, very little.
And that's the way he was. He knew that Christ was coming,
but he didn't know Christ. He knew that the baptism of John,
but he didn't know the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And so he
gets up in the synagogue and he begins to preach boldly. And
listen, watch this, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard,
oh, they listened to him. They listened to him. And oh
my, and they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way
of God more perfectly. Now let me ask you something.
How do you deal, now he's up talking, he's up preaching boldly. And Priscilla and Aquila and
Priscilla are there with him. They was companions of Paul. Paul lived with them. They worked
together. And so how do you deal with somebody
that's so well-learned, so well-educated, so mighty in the scriptures,
and had a great, great knowledge of the Word? And it was evident
that God was with him. And argued affectionately with
the Jews. How do you deal with a fellow
like that? Do you rebuke him? Do you oppose him? Do you refute
him? That's what most of us would
have done. That's what most of us would have done. But look
what it says. They took him under him, took
him to their house. They took him home with him,
took him home with him. They said, oh, listen, you come
stay with us a while. Come live with us, stay with
us a while. And look what it says, and expounded unto him
the way of God more perfectly. Now let me ask you something.
This didn't happen overnight. They didn't do this just in a
day. You know, they got to take all the scriptures that he talked
about Christ coming, and they had to take all the scriptures
and teach him that Christ had already come. that Christ had
come. They got to teach him from the
Old Testament that Christ had come, where He was born, how
He was born, why He was born, what He did while He was here.
And they had to go and they had to teach him about Christ from
the very beginning, from the very, very beginning. I remember
when I was just starting to learn the gospel, if some brethren
hadn't have took me under their care and helped teach me and
instruct me and guide me, there's no telling where I'd have ended
up. But here, that's what they did. They taught him the Word
of God more perfectly. They began to teach him. And
let me, you know, Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned three times,
four times in the Bible. So evidently they was mightily
used of God. Let me show you some things about
them. Look in Romans 16. Look in Romans 16. What you see about them in Romans
16. Verses 3 and 4. Look what he says here about them. Oh, listen. Acts 16 through 8. Great Piscilla
and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have for my life,
my life laid down their own eggs, whom not only I give thanks,
but also all the churches of the Gentiles." Oh, listen, let
me show you another one. Over in 1 Corinthians 16, 19.
Look at 1 Corinthians 16, 19. Look what it says about them
over here. 1 Corinthians 16, 19, he says this,
the churches of Asia salute you, Aquila and Priscilla salute you
in the Lord with the house, with the church, listen to this, that's
in their house. That's where their church at
Ephesus started, in their house, in their house, and that's why
they took Apollos in their house, this man eloquent and mighty
in the scripture. And they were tent makers, listen
to me. They were tent makers. They were very, very common people. They were working people. They
got up of the morning, went to work, and they done their work,
they done their task, and they made the tents, a lot of metal
leather. They were working people. So
how is this eloquent man, this mighty man in the scriptures,
how's he gonna learn from them? They're common people, working
people. Well, I'll tell you something. He was a man of humility. All
of God's people. I'll tell you something. He had
a desire to learn. And God's people, one thing I'll
say about every single one of them, God's people want to learn. We want to learn what God says. And I'll tell you, there's been
many times while I've been preaching that God unlocked the scriptures
to me right while I was preaching. Give me understanding while I
was preaching. And you talking about a blessing, you said, ah,
you know, I should stop and say, the Lord just showed me that,
but I ain't gonna do it. But oh, listen, God's people
are teachable. There's a woman that calls me
and I've talked to her. She's from a little town outside
of, in Northern California. Her name's Maria Diaz. And she
talked to me and talked to me and talked to me. And she's wanting
a certain book where she, I'd mentioned when she heard my preaching.
And she listened to last Sunday's message. But she's desperately
wants to learn. She wants to learn. She got nobody
to help her. Her husband's a Catholic. She'd been a believer for long
years and she attends the services, but she's got nobody to help
her. Nobody to, and so she wants to
learn. And I sent her some other preacher's
names and said, listen, she listens to me. And I said, I sent her
some names of some different preachers to listen to. She's
desperate to learn. She wants to sit and learn. And
she asked me for some scriptures and I sent her the scriptures
and she wrote them down. And she said, she gonna look
at them. She wants to learn. God's people wanna learn. We've
been learning since we started. Have we arrived yet? Have we
learned all there is to know? Do you think we know enough now
that we can sit back and say, listen, ah boy, I don't know
if that fella's gonna be able to teach me anything or not.
Well, no, no, if there's a preacher preaching, I wanna listen to
him. I wanna hear what he's got to say. And oh my, they taught
Christ to this man. They taught Christ who had come. They taught about His work that
He accomplished. They talked about, oh, the work
that He did, the miracles that He performed, the people that
He raised from the dead. And they talked about, not only
did he do a work, but he finished that work. And he finished that
work, he completed that work. And salvation's now done. Forget John, now we're looking
to Christ. And oh my. And I tell you, it
took him several days to get there. They didn't start that
afternoon and preach to him all night, and he got up the next
day ready to go. That's not the way it happened.
It took him a while to learn these things. And oh, my, and
they taught him that the gospel was for Jew and Gentile alike,
that God s no respective persons, that it s male or female and
female, and that Christ, when He come, that He would baptize
with the Holy Ghost, not with water, with the Holy Ghost. You
got to have the Holy Spirit. and that he was now, he was now
ascended up into glory and sittin' at the right hand of God. And
I tell ya, this took several days, believe me. And I remember
these folks were taught by Paul and who was taught by the Lord
in Arabia. So I tell ya, they taught him
about Christ. And that's what we all wanna
walk by. Don't we want to learn about
Him? We sang that song, more about Jesus, what I know, more
of His saving fullness, show more of His love who died for
me. Oh my, but oh boy, listen to what happened. So after a
while, it says in verse 27, when He was disposed to pass into
Achaia, Achaia is Corinthians, that's in Corinth, and He wanted
to go there, so the brethren wrote a letter and exhorting
the disciples to receive him. And oh yeah, you receive him,
he's a believer. You take him and you receive
him, receive his message, receive his person. And listen to this,
who when he's come, I love this right here. Who when he was come, helped them which had believed,
much believed, helped them much which had believed through grace. You know, the only way we can
believe is through grace. You can't believe any other way. Oh, where do we get salvation?
God gives us grace. Where do we get faith? God gives
it to us by grace. Where did we get repentance?
God gave it to us through grace. Where do we get our knowledge?
God gives it to us through grace. Where do we get an understanding?
God gives it to us through grace. How do we persevere? God gives
it to us through grace. We do it by grace. Everything
is by grace, and He helped them much through grace. And listen
to this, and I tell you what, those who know it best love it
the most, and He mightily convinced, mightily convinced the Jews And publicly, listen to this
now. This is how far he had come.
He only knew the baptism of John. Now look what it says. And showing
publicly, mildly convinced the Jews publicly, showing by the
scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. His whole life changed. His message
changed. His attitude, everything about
him changed. And I tell you, when God makes
you to know Christ, your life will change, too. Oh, it'll change. And I tell you, I wanna, and
he started with Moses, and he began to preach. And let me show
you something over here in second, in, well, let me find it here. I got it here somewhere. In 1
Corinthians 3 and 4 about Paul and Apollos and them. Look in
1 Corinthians 3 with me. I want you to see this. Talking
about Apollos and what a mighty man he became. How he mightily
convinced the Jews. But you all know this. You've
heard this before. Look what it says here now. In
verse 4. 1 Corinthians 3 and 4. For while one says, I am of Paul,
Paul's my favorite preacher. And another said, I'm of Apollos,
Apollos my favorite preacher. Are you not carnal? Are you not
carnal? Who is Paul? And who is Apollos? Just preachers, just ministers
by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I
planted a polished water, but here's the difference. God's
the one that has to do the work. God's the one that has to give
the increase. And look what he says. So then neither is he that
planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God, he's
the one that gives the increase. So oh my, so that's what, you
know, policy is mighty in the scriptures. And let me, I hope,
just give me, a couple of minutes, some things we can learn. I want
us to learn this. Fervency, learning, having a
fiery spirit, having, you know, here's a man who had much learning,
had much fervency. And having gifts are not proof
that you know Christ. We must know Christ. That's what that woman told me
the other day. I want to know Christ. We must know Christ. A man can have knowledge of the
scriptures, have an ability to preach, and that's not enough. We've got to know Him. The scriptures
speaks of Him. To Him, all the prophets give
witness. Being a Christian, being a believer
is knowing Christ, not about Him, knowing Him. And growing
as a believer, growing as a Christian is knowing Him better. More to know Him more. And oh my, how He was delivered
for our sins and raised to justify us in the sight of God. And here's
another thing. One man doesn't do it all. God
uses different people in different ways. Some sow, some water. Quilla and Priscilla, they were
witnesses. They taught, they educated of
Christ. And oh, may God send forth laborers
into his vineyard. While I was gone, I prayed for
the services here. And there's some folks that attend
fairly regularly, almost rarely miss. But they don't know Christ
yet. And I was praying that while
I was gone, that these other men preaching, that God would
use them other men to bring forth fruit to His glory. I didn't
care who's preaching if a person becomes a believer and believes
on Christ. I don't care who it is. just
as long as God uses them. And I thought, well, I'm gone.
Maybe, maybe. God, would you use one of them
preachers to save some of those folks that don't know Christ
yet? How would you do that? Oh, well. Our Father, thank you for being
merciful to us, allowing us to meet here tonight. Thank you
for the grace you've given us in Christ. Thank you for meeting
with us. Thank you for your word. God
bless these dear saints of God. Bless them as they go home. Use
us all, use us all to your glory. Make us faithful witnesses of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And may our lives, may our words,
may our actions, may our character bring glory to his holy name.
In his precious name we pray, amen, amen. There is a name I
love to hear. I love to sing its worth. It sounds like music in my ear. The sweetest name on earth. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Oh, how I love Jesus. Because He first loved me. Good night, God bless you, and
I'll see you Sunday, Lord willing.