My text this evening is Acts
chapter 18, verses 12 through 28. Acts 18, 12 through 28. In these verses of Scripture,
we have a very hurried account of the last part of Paul's second
missionary journey and the beginning of his third. In these 17 verses,
we'll follow Paul from Corinth to Ephesus, from Ephesus to Jerusalem,
and from Jerusalem back to Antioch. After he had spent some time
in the church at Antioch, he visited the churches in all the
country of Galatia and Pergia in order. Then he goes back to
Ephesus where the ninth chapter begins. Now that's a lot of territory
to cover in 17 verses. Paul traveled several hundred
miles, I was just looking at the atlas today, somewhere in
the vicinity of a thousand or twelve hundred miles He traveled
on this second missionary journey before he came back to Ephesus
again. Now, as I read these verses, my heart wants to say, wait,
Luke, tell us a little more about what went on. It seems that Luke
hurried through these verses of scripture and hurried through
these events. And I am made to wonder what
happened when Paul was at Sinsai. How did Phoebe, that lady in
the Cincrian church, win the praise which Paul gave her in
the book of Romans? What happened while he was at
Jerusalem, Antioch, Galatia, and Persia? Surely there must
have been many, many interesting events in those verses, or in
those places. But Luke, for some reason, chooses
in these verses of Scripture to leave out all the details
It seems that he wants to hurry to the next scene in the early
history of the church, and that introduces us to a man who obviously
impressed him very greatly. The man was Apollos, the Alexandrian
orator. Now, this man Apollos must have
been something else. Luke introduces him with a deeper
respect and admiration than he uses to present any other person
in the book of Acts. He's described by Luke in verse
24 as Apollos, born in Alexandria. Well, let's just read verse 24.
A certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent
man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. Verse 25. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord. Being fervent in the spirit,
he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord. knowing
only the baptism of John. Now Luke sets Apollos before
us as an example of Christian character, one of those men whose
faith we should follow. But before he introduces Apollos
to us in verse 24, he does give us some historical facts about
Paul's journey from Corinth to Antioch, and being given by inspiration
of God, these facts are full of instruction for us. Let me
divide this portion of the chapter up in three ways. First, we will
look at the typical persecution in verses 12-17, and then secondly,
the traveling preacher in verses 18-23, and then finally, the
talented puppeteer in verses 24-28. Wherever Paul went preaching
the gospel of Christ, he met with persecution. God in Corinth
had graciously restrained the hand of his enemies for some
time. But at last the old serpent began
again to spew out his venom against Christ, against the messenger
of Christ, and against the gospel of Christ. And now at Corinth
we see the typical persecution of God's servants. Beginning
in verse 12, we read here, when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia,
that's a Roman province, the Jews made insurrection with one
accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, saying,
This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law."
Now, our King James Version reads, This fellow, but the Jews didn't
say that at all. You will notice that the word
fellow is added by the translators. When the Jews brought Paul before
Galileo to have him beaten, to have him scourged because of
preaching the gospel, they said this. as if there were no word
that they could think of to describe this thing with the low opinion
and the evil intent they had in their hearts. They didn't
say this fellow. They said this stirs up insurrection. This thing teaches men to worship
God contrary to the law. It teaches men to worship God
contrary to Roman law. because the Romans forbade the
establishing of any god unless that god was given permission
to be worshiped by the Roman Senate. But the Jews were saying
particularly, he commands men to worship God contrary to the
law of Moses, which of course was not true. As a matter of
fact, the law of Moses commanded that men should worship this
one who was to come, the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Messiah.
Moses told the people to hear him and to worship him. But the
Jews, in a pretense of piety, in a pretense of zeal for the
glory of God, brought Paul up and they said this thing, commands
men to worship God contrary to the law. Then read verse 14.
And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, he was about
to speak in his own business, he was about to tell the Jews
and Galileo how that he worshiped God and commanded men to worship
God according to the scripture. But before he could do so, Galio
said unto the Jews, if it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness,
O you Jews, reason would that I should bear with you. He says
if this man had done something contrary to the law, if he had
harmed any one person by theft or by perjury or by murder or
by rape or any of those things, then it would be reasonable for
you to bring him to me to be judge. He says in verse 15, But
if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look
ye to him, that is, you take care of this, for I will be no
judge of such matters. Now, I don't exactly commend
Gallio. He was not a godly man. He had
no fear of God. He should not have allowed the
Jews, or allowed the Gentiles to beat Sosthenes, as he did
in the following verses, because it was his responsibility as
a civil magistrate and as a judge to protect the lives of all who
were in his jurisdiction. But, he is to be commended in
one thing. He refused to hear the charges which the Jews brought
against the Apostle Paul. You see, it's not the business
of civil courts to make rules and judgments in matters regarding
the free exercise of religion. If the rulers of the world had
half the sense of this man Galileo, there would never have been martyrs
burned at the stake, or martyrs torn to pieces in the Roman arena.
Our men and women banished from their homelands are imprisoned
for the worship of God. Our men fleeing from city to
city because of persecution arising over the preaching of the gospel.
And if the courts of our day had half the sense of Galileo,
no school teacher would ever be fired. for stating plainly
what he or she believes concerning God and creation. Now, those
things, I don't get involved in such controversies that take
place. I don't expect any different from the courts of the land.
I don't expect any different from men who have no regard for
God. But I want you to understand
that civil magistrates, courts, law, rules made by men of power
and authority in our government, they're to be respected and they're
to be obeyed insofar as they do not interfere with our worship
of God and our obedience to the plain statements of Holy Scripture.
So that if you're in a position where you have a choice of either
breaking the law or obeying God, breaking the law or being faithful
to the confession of Christ, then you must break the law and
suffer the consequences. If the courts of our land had
the sense that Galio had, there would be no need for one to fear
losing his job or suffering any kind of reprisal from the state
because of his conviction concerning the things of God. And I say
that not for our sakes alone. I say that all men ought to have
this freedom. We do not endeavor to get men
to obey God and to worship Christ by law and by legislation. We
leave all men free and declare to all men the way of truth,
the way of life in Christ Jesus, and trust the hand of God to
bring men to repentance and faith. All the people of God want from
the state is to be left alone. We want neither the help of the
state nor its help. for ourselves or for anyone else.
Civil courts have neither jurisdiction nor intelligence when it comes
to matters of religion. And certainly the Senate and
the courts of this land have clearly demonstrated that. Now
look at verse 16. And he drove them all from the
judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes,
the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment
seat. And Galileo cared for none of those things. If you look
back up in verse 8, you'll notice that Crispus, who was the chief
ruler of the synagogue, had been converted by the grace of God.
Paul had come preaching the gospel of Christ, and Crispus had heard
how that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Messiah,
the Son of God, the Christ who was to come, and that he had
suffered, bled, and died in the room of sinners. and that by
virtue of his death and resurrection, all who believe on him are justified
from all things from which they could not be justified by the
law of Moses. And Crispus, his heart was awakened
by the Spirit of God, and he believed. And so Sosthenes had
been elected to take his place. And now this Sosthenes, who had
come to have Paul beaten, he had brought Paul with the Jewish
rabble, before this man Galileo to have him beaten, but before
the day was done, Sosthenes was beaten with the stripes which
he had hoped to see inflicted upon Paul. It shouldn't take your mind long
to find a parallel to that. Many a Haman has been hanged
on the gallows which he prepared for the hanging of God's faithful
Mordecai. Many a Sosthenes has been beaten
with the stripes which he had hoped to see inflicted upon one
of God's servants. Our Lord tells us, Vengeance
is mine, sayeth the Lord. I will reckon for us. I have
pastor friends who undergo the cause of preaching the gospel,
a lot of difficulty from people who accuse them of things and
who speak maliciously of them. And the temptation is to retaliate.
The temptation is to defend themselves. I was talking to one such man
recently. He moved to a new city in a new
congregation and he's going through some difficulties. And he started
to ask my advice concerning how to go about clearing up things
and clearing up his reputation. And my advice to him and my advice
to you is don't. Don't do it. Don't do it. Nobody
has ever said anything about Don Fortner that justly declares
the evil of Don Fortner's heart and life. Nobody knows how evil
it is. So whatever they say about me,
in reality, is better than I deserve. More than that, whatever men
may say about me as God's servant, as God's child in this world,
it really makes no difference. My reputation is not the reputation
to defend, but rather the reputation, the honor, and the glory of Christ.
And if you and I will faithfully set ourselves, not to defending
ourselves, but rather to declaring the glory of Christ, God in his
good prophetess will see to it that you're taken care of in
whatever way is best for you and for the glory of Christ.
Don't ever try to defend yourself against the false accusations
of men. Now, there are, in these verses of Scripture, two lessons
to be learned from just this event before the Judgment Day
at Galilee. First of all, the gospel of Christ is still offensive
to man. The plain declaration of redemption
by Christ and salvation by a substitute is to them that perish foolishness,
a stone of stumbling, and a rock of rebellion. Now the natural
man is religious and because natural man is religious, he's
tolerant of and even likes natural religion. Any religion of free
will, any religion that gives man some works to perform by
which he may either gain God's favor or improve his standing
in God's favor, any religion that declares that man has by
some ritual that he performs gained an acceptance with God
is acceptable and is pleasant to the natural man's ears, because
the natural man thinks in his mind. It's his way of thinking. He presumes that if God is offended
by something he has done, then God's offense will be taken away
and his position before God will be rectified if he does something
good in return to make up for the evil that he's done. And
that's where we get such doctrines as the Roman doctrine of penance.
Now, you sin, so you go and do this. But we don't have any Roman
Catholics here. We're all Baptists, good Baptist
folks. That's where we get Baptist doctrines
of penance as well. If you're a good Baptist, then
God will bless you. If you will be faithful to the
church, then God will honor you. If you've done something wrong,
another thing you need to do is you start tithing more and
giving more and you start doing this more and doing that more
and be a good Baptist, be a good Christian and God will favor
you. That's nothing Hubert but Romanism
with a Baptist name. That's all on earth it is. It's
ritualism, it's penance, it's works, it's pleasing to men's
ears, but it's contrary to the gospel of Christ. And men get
enraged by that. Women do not like the idea that
there's nothing man does for acceptance of God. That's it. Just that. And if you do anything
for acceptance of God, Christ shall profit you nothing. That's
what Paul says in Galatians 5. If you are faithful to confess
Christ to men, you're going to have to endure the wrath of men.
Now that's all there is to it. Turn over to Matthew chapter
10. Let me show you this. I know that you men and women
every day come into contact with people in your community, with
people where you work, with people involved in various organizations
that you're involved with. And you know before you speak
to them That if you tell them plainly the truth, they're going
to be upset with you. You know that if you tell your
sons and daughters the truth concerning the gospel of Christ
and concerning their false religion, they're going to be upset with
you. You know that if you tell your mom and dad the truth concerning
Christ and the gospel, they're going to be upset with you. You
think about that and sometimes the tendency is to cowardly turn
from them. Let them go on and perish. rather
than bear the offense. Now let me tell you, if you're
faithful to Christ and confess Christ to men, you're going to
have to endure man's wrath. There's no way around it. Look
here in Matthew 10 and verse 16. Our Lord says, Behold, I
send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore
wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Beware of men, all
men. All men. Look at what it says
in verse 19. They'll deliver you up. Take
no thought what you shall speak. That is not how you're going
to defend yourself. God will give you the words to speak.
Verse 21. The brother shall deliver up
the brother to death and the father the child and the child
shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death.
And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But he
that endureth to the end, that is, he who in the face of these
things goes on confessing Christ, shall be saved. But when they
persecute you in this city, flee you to another. For verily I
say unto you, you shall not have gone over the cities of Israel
till the Son of Man be gone. The disciple is not above his
master, nor the servant above his Lord. If they persecuted
me, our Lord said, they'll persecute you. Look in verse 28. Fear not
them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul,
but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and
body in him. Are not two sparrows sold for
a farthing, and one of them shall not fall to the ground without
your bother? But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear ye not, therefore, ye are more value than many sparrows.
Whatsoever there, or whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, Him will I confess also before my Father, which is in
heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, Him will I also
deny before my Father, which is in heaven. Think not that
I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I am come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
the man's foes shall be they of his own household." The word
is very funny, very funny. If you faithfully confess Christ
to me, I don't mean that you beat folks over the head with
the gospel. That doesn't do anyone any good. I don't mean that you
constantly browbeat folks. That doesn't do any good. I don't
mean that you try to convince people to be Calvinist rather
than Arminians or Baptist rather than Methodist. If you make a
Methodist a Baptist, you haven't done him any good. Make an Arminian
a Calvinist, you haven't done him any good, none whatsoever.
I do mean this. I mean that you and I, in the
face of those we work with, those we live by, those we live with,
we must faithfully confess Christ to them and not allow them, not
allow them to perish without us at least telling them the
truth. And if you do, Dale, you're going to suffer for it. You're
going to incur the wrath of man for it. Men who oppose God oppose
men who believe God. Now that's just plain as it is.
And any man who preaches the gospel of Christ has got to pay
a price for doing so. He's going to have to pay a price
for doing so. I know a lot of men all over this country and
other parts of the world who preach the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ without the least apology. But
I don't know one man who does so who hasn't paid a price, and
most of them a dear price to pay. Most of them have had to
suffer a great deal of difficulty for being faithful to the gospel.
Now, when I say the gospel of Christ, you know what I mean.
I mean a man who declares plainly divine sovereignty. tells all
men everywhere that God Almighty is absolutely sovereign, not
only in creation, but in providence, in redemption, and in salvation. That God has mercy on whom He
will have mercy. He has compassion on whom He
will have compassion. That salvation is not in man's
will, but it's in God's will. Salvation is not up to the sinner,
it's up to God. It's not determined by you whether
you live or perish, but it's determined by God whether or
not you inherit eternal life. When I talk about the gospel
of Christ, I'm talking about the declaration of man's utter
depravity, his moral inability, the corruption of his heart,
the incapability of the human heart to turn to God and to believe
God, because man is dead in trespasses and in sin. When I talk about
the gospel, I'm not simply telling men that Jesus died for sinners.
I mean to tell men that Jesus Christ died for sinners and by
his atoning sacrifice he has effectually accomplished eternal
redemption for every soul who believes on him. Now you declare
that? That's not what we do. You just
can't do it. You just can't do it. But Paul
says, do we seek to please men or God? And you have to make
your choice. I, as a preacher, have to decide. wherever I go. Hey, it's not
hard. Here, all you folks agree with me. But I go a lot of places
where they don't agree. And I have to make a decision
every time I step in the pulpit. Will I endeavor to please the
hearer or will I endeavor to please God? Now, one of the two,
so. And you men and women who believe
Christ, you have to make a decision day by day as you walk before
men and converse with them about the things of God. Will I endeavor
to please men to win their approval, their honor, and their acceptance,
or will I endeavor to please them? The Apostle Paul suffered
persecution for serving the cause of Christ's glory and preaching
the gospel. And if you and I do, we too will
suffer persecution to one degree or another. The other lesson
to be learned is the fact that God's providential rule of this
world works all things together for the good of God the Lamb.
Look back here in Acts 18 again. This persecution from the Jews,
now listen to this, this persecution from the Jews was as much a work
of God's good providence, they call it, as was the fact that
when Paul first came to Corinth, he found Priscilla and Aquila,
tent makers with whom he could reside. The persecution of the
Jews was just as much a matter of God's good providence. His good providence. Let me show
you how. By this fact, that the persecution
arose, it became evident to Paul that his work at Corinth was
finished. Now, Paul did not flee in fear. He continued in Corinth
a good while after the persecution. But, he began making plans to
leave. because he was no longer being
heard and this thwarted persecution served also to confirm the Lord's
promise to his servants the Lord promised Paul in the night vision
no man shall sit on thee to hurt thee now he did not say no man
shall sit on thee he said no man shall sit on thee to hurt
thee that is their their opposition will not be of that choice Their
plans and their devices against you can do nothing to harm you. And so they planned their persecution. They brought Paul before Galileo,
and before Paul could open his mouth, God and his providence
turned the whole thing around. He said, I told you, nobody here
is going to hurt you. Nobody here is going to. And
more than that, it may be that this beating of Sosthenes was
a providential blessing to him as well. Thastamides, being an
elder of the synagogue, a ruler of the synagogue, being instructed
in the Old Testament Scripture, could not help but to remember
the fact that Haman had brought Mordecai to be hanged, and Haman
himself was hanged upon the gallows because of God's providential
intervention. imagine Sosthenes as he's taking
the beating of these unbelieving Gentiles, I can almost imagine
him thinking, is it happening to me as it happened to him? At any rate, this man Sosthenes
was converted by the grace of God later on. Turn over to 1
Corinthians 1, let me show you. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Now while he's going through
the beating, he doesn't know what God's doing. And he's not
giving thanks for what God's doing. And nobody else knows
what God's doing. But those who believe God know
that in the midst of the persecution, God still rules! Exactly! With sovereignty! Even as he
did after when he said, let there be light, and there was light.
Look here in 1 Corinthians 1-1. called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother. God himself brought Sosthenes
to see that all was a messenger of God, and that God's hand was
upon him, and he heard what he said, and he turned to Christ
in faith. we could get it from here to
here. I wish we could. If we just believed that that
much of what we preach about God's prophecy, there wouldn't
be any more fretting, worrying, despondency, or grumbling, or
murmuring in any community. I believe God Almighty, he does
not call wicked men to commit wicked deeds, he does not call
Satan to do the things Satan does, but God rules the spewing
of Satan's venom and the deeds of wicked men as sovereignly
as he rules in heaven above! Totally! And everything that
he causes and everything he brings to pass, and everything he allows
wicked men and the demons of hell to perform, he sovereignly
rules for the good of his covenant people and the glory of his name. God moves in a mysterious way. He wanders through the forest,
he plants his footsteps in the sea, and he rides upon the Now, don't try to judge the Lord
by people's pain. We sit down and we fold our hands,
stretch our knees, and hold it up. Why do you allow this to
happen? Why does this pain come to me? Don't try to judge the Lord by
people's pain. behind the frowning populace,
behind a smiling face. Now, secondly, Paul left his
brethren at Corinth and began once again to conduct his usual
itinerant ministry, and we see him beginning at verse 18 as
the traveling preacher of the Lord. In verse 18, the scripture
says, Paul, after this, carried at Corinth yet a good while,
and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into
Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his
head at Senugria, for he had a vow. Now, it seems most unlikely
to me that Paul had his head shaved and took a Jewish vow,
The Apostle Paul, above all men, had cast out Jewish rites and
ceremonies. Though he might, for expediency's
sake, have Timothy circumcised, I cannot imagine this man Paul
taking a vow and observing a Jewish custom, tradition, or legal precept. Let me show you. Turn over to
Colossians, chapter 2. Colossians, the second chapter. Verse 16. Now this is the writing
of this same Apostle Paul. He says, let no man therefore
judge you in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day
or of the new moon or of the Sabbath day. Now in plain English
this is what Paul said. He said don't let anybody tell
you what you can eat or what you can drink as though it's
good to eat this and evil to eat that. good to drink this
and evil to drink that. Don't let anybody tell you that
you must observe certain holy days or that you must observe
any new moon, the changing of the season, or that you must
observe any Sabbath day. Don't let anybody tell you that.
These things are a shadow of things to come. They're just
a shadow, but the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you. Don't let any man with subtlety
turn you away, beguile you of your reward. Now listen to how
he describes this matter of legalistic religion, involuntary humility
and worshiping of angels, intruding into those things which he has
not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, not holding
the head which is for all the body, from which all the body,
by joints and bands having nourishment, ministered and knit together,
increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore, if you be
dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, that word rudiments
of the world, Paul is speaking now about the ceremonial law
of Moses. Paul is speaking about the legalistic
form of religion which keeps Sabbath days and eats this and
doesn't eat that, drinks this and doesn't drink that and goes
here and doesn't go there. He's talking about those things
and he says these are the elements, the rudiments of the world. These
things are done away, never again to be observed by men who follow
Christ. You know what he says? If you're
dead from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living
in the world, are you subject to these ordinances? Here they
are. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. When I was in Bible college, I went
to two of them. At least one of them was worth
burning, but I went to two of them. And they had ten different
procedures, rules, and regulations. And they told the boys how long
they could wear their hair, because if you wore sideburns... Now
listen, you're going to think I'm lying to you. If the boy
wore sideburns, below the middle of his ear, he was whorled. He's
whorled. It's alright to wear them down
to the middle of the ear, but not below. Otherwise, he's whorled.
If a white fella wore a mustache, that's whorled. Look, it's alright
for a black fella. That's stated in our rulebook. College, I was
in Springsville, Missouri, back when they first started wearing
buckles on their shoes. You know they outlawed those
things? Boys couldn't wear buckles on their shoes. Girls weren't
allowed to wear trousers. They called them trousers or
pants or bands of hair. Nobody was allowed to wear shorts
or go mixed bathing or go to a picture show. Wasn't allowed
to watch TV. Not at the first college. They
did kind of give way at the second one, on the matter of television.
All of those touch not, taste not, handle not, which are all
to perish with the user. Paul is saying, do you really
think God in heaven is concerned about how long your hair is?
Whether you wear whiskers on your chin or not? Whether you
wear buckles on your shoes, or how long your pants are, or whether
you wear pants or skirts, do you really think, do you really
think God in heaven is concerned about these things that all perish
with the using that school of shoes? That school of shoes.
That's what he said. After the commandments and doctrines
of men, verse 23, which things indeed have a show of wisdom
in will-worship, and humility, and the neglecting of the body,
and not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh." What does this
mean here then, when it says that, in verse 18, that Paul
took leave of the brethren and sailed to Syria, and with him
Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head at Centuria, for
he had a vow. of the phrase having shorn his
head, I'm certain refers not to Paul, but to Aquila. Usually
when Luke mentions Aquila and Priscilla, he puts Aquila's name
first, but here he uses Priscilla's name first, so as to state that
Aquila had shaved his head for a vow. Now, when Paul came to
Ephesus in verse 19, he came to Ephesus and left them there,
but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the
Jews. He left Priscilla and Aquila
at Ephesus and went once again to the synagogue and reasoned
with the Jews in the word of the Lord. So great was his love
for his brethren after the flesh that he could not let them perish
without preaching Christ to them. Wherever he went, he looked up
the synagogue and he reasoned with them concerning Christ. God is my witness, I have read,
edited, and continued to follow him. My brethren, I believe. He says, concerning whose brethren?
The king's and I believe. He said, I have an earnest desire
to see them converted to God. They have a zeal of God, but
they do not. Being ignorant of the righteousness they're going
about to establish their own righteousness, which is contrary
to the gospel and contrary to the righteousness of God. Everywhere
you went, he preached Christ to them. Now look at verse 20. When they desired him, that is,
when Priscilla and Aquila desired him to tarry a longer time 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 unto you again if God wills." And he sailed
from Israel. Now, Paul was determined to go
to Jerusalem, not to keep the ceremonial feast of the Passover,
but because the feast of the Passover was to be kept there,
and he knew that by being there at that time, he would have opportunity
to preach the gospel to many. He wisely recognized the rule
of divine providence. and all his plans and commitments
were made upon this one condition, if God is true. For a wise man
who recognizes that everything in the world hinges upon if God
is true, if God is true. And if you make your plans and
your commitments and your preparations for life in this world, whether
you're thinking about an hour from now, a day from now, or
sixty years from now, if you'll make your plans and commitments
in this world with this thing in mind, if God will, you'll
not be frustrated when your plans aren't carried out. This is God's
will. This is God's will. said to the folks at Ephesus,
I will come to you again, if God will. And if God will not,
at best I won't meet you. Look at verse 22. And when he
had landed at Caesarea and gone up and 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
Persia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Young believers
are like young plants. They need much water, much care,
and much support. And Paul tenderly ministered
to the spiritual needs of God's young children. A lot of evangelists
like to go from town to town and make a big stir, and they
leave. But God's servants care for the people of God, and they
seek to strengthen those who are converted by God's Spirit.
Let me try to bring two or three words of personal application
to us as human beings. First, we must not allow personal
comfort and joy to keep us from diligently fulfilling our responsibilities
to God. Paul left his friends Aquila
and Priscilla at Ephesus. He left them so that he might
travel alone for many hundreds of miles to preach the gospel
of Christ. willingly to forsake earthly
comfort and to forego worldly pleasure to serve the cause of
God. Wherever I can benefit the teaching
of God, wherever I can benefit the cause of the gospel, wherever
I can benefit the glory of Christ, let me leave all earthly comfort
and all earthly pleasure to go and do that thing. I know that
as a preacher that's kindly expected of me, and it is, it's right. It's right that you should expect
it of me, it's right that others should expect it of me, but it's
expected of you. If you're a believer, you're
the messenger of God, and see to it that you do not allow earthly
pleasure and earthly comfort to conflict with your responsibility. Another thing, it's our responsibility
to seek opportunity. to witness to all men, even though
they do not wish to hear the gospel. Paul didn't wait for
the Jews to invite him into their synagogue so that he might tell
them about Christ. But rather, wherever he went,
he looked up the Jews, and knowing full well that they despised
Jesus of Nazareth, he told them that Jesus is the Christ. You
and I ought not to sit around with our hands folded and say,
If the Lord opens an opportunity, I'll take it with a smile. I
realize God must open a man's ear, and I realize that God must
open the door of support, but it's our responsibility to seek
and make a way of declaring the gospel to people. How many there are who we watch
preach and never open their eyes? Faith in Christ teaches us to
gladly submit all things to the will of God. With all, faith
says it's God's will. Faith does not make us irresponsible,
do nothing, but it does teach us to seek and submit to God's
will with and contentment as we labor in his cause and word.
And God's people in this world need the strength, the encouragement,
the comfort, the instruction, and the discipline of a regular
pastoral ministry. Christ has given his church pastors,
according to his heart, for the edification of their souls by
the preaching of the gospel. And my friend, listen carefully
to this. You cannot grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ
if you neglect the feeding of your soul through the regular
ministry of the Word. Wes, you've got to have it. You've
got to have it. I know it doesn't appear this
way by looking at me, but I've kind of neglected my body
today. had one ham sandwich. And I'm
getting hungry. I'm getting hungry. And I maintain
this good, healthy 300 pounds by not allowing myself to stay
hungry for too long. I have to feed to grow. Otherwise I would wither away
and die. Now that's a facetious illustration,
but it tells you what I want you to hear. Your soul must be
fed. Fed by the public ministry of
the world. Oh, but God, I can read the Bible
for myself and study for myself. Yes, you can, should, and must.
But God has ordained by the preaching of the gospel, the edification,
the building up of his church, that you be no more children
made post to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Don't neglect
this. Now we come to the event that
Luke seems so anxious to tell us about. He introduces Apollos,
the great orator from Alexandria. While Paul was away from Ephesus
between his second and third missionary journeys, Apollos
came to Ephesus preaching the Lord Jesus Christ. Beginning
at verse 24, Luke introduces us to this talented book of Deuteronomy. In verse 24, And a certain Jew
named Apollos born at Alexandria an eloquent man, mighty in the
scriptures, came to Ephesus. Now, Apollos was an Alexandrian
from Egypt. He was a man of rare talent,
an eloquent man, rational, prudent, well-educated. Matthew Boole
said, though the kingdom of God is not in any excellency of speech,
yet this Egyptian jewel may be used to adorn the tabernacle. but God does occasionally call
a man with wisdom and praise, as he did this man of ours. He
was mighty in the Scripture. That is, he was greatly gifted
of God in understanding the Word and explaining the Word clearly
to men in the light of Christ's person and work. And he was able
to do so convincingly. Look at verse 25. This man was
instructed in the way of the Lord. He was catechized in the
gospel of Christ. being fervent in the spirit,
he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing
only the baptism of John. Apollos was taught in the way
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who taught us the way of life and
faith and peace by him. He zealously promoted the glory
of God, and he taught the salvation of sinners, calling men to faith
in Christ, knowing only the baptism of John." Now, you don't need
to go crazy when you read that. Apollos knew only the message
and the teachings of John the Baptist. But that message and
teachings of John the Baptist were the same as those of the
Apostles of Christ. Repentance and faith were of
God through the Lord Jesus Christ. The remission of sin by the blood
of Christ, the Lamb of God slain for the remission of sin. This
man, Apollos, had been taught the message that John the Baptist
declared. whether by his mother and father
or by someone else, I don't know. But Apollos' doctrine was true
gospel doctrine. The statement here simply implies
that Apollos was not thoroughly instructed in those things that
were revealed since John the Baptist. That is, he was not
aware of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost
and the mighty works of God through the apostles by the power of
the Holy Spirit. In verse 26, he began to speak
boldly in the synagogue, whom Aquila and Priscilla had heard,
they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of
God for a purpose. Priscilla and Aquila heard Paul
preaching in the synagogue, and they said, man, that's not a
good thing. And they invited him home for
dinner. They said, why don't you come have dinner at our house?
Priscilla fixed him a nice meal and took that down and talked
for a while, and with modesty, with a sense of who Apollos was,
with meekness, they instructed him more fully in the doctrines
of the gospel of Christ. Priscilla seems to have assisted
her husband in the teaching of this man Apollos, but it should
be noted that she did so in privacy, in her own house, not publicly
in the church. As a godly woman, she behaves
with meekness and humility. Now, ladies, listen to me. Don't
listen to me, listen to the Word of God. It's contrary both to
Scripture and to modesty for women to publicly reprove or
instruct their men. It is not to be done in the Church
of God under any circumstance, and it certainly ought not to
be done in any public forum whatever. Now, look at verse 27. And when
he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote exhorting
the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped
them much, which had believed through grace. The believers
at Ephesus sent a letter to Corinth and recommended Apollos to them
as an able minister when he come. And when he arrived at Corinth,
Apollos was a source of much help to the believers there,
those who had believed through grace. Old John Trapp said this. He said, We bring forth faith
and the fruits thereof, as Sarah's dead womb brought forth a child. It was not a child of nature,
but of mere promise, and so are all our graces. Faith is not
the work of man's free will. It is rather the work of God's
free grace. God gives men life so that they
may believe. He does not give men life because
they do believe. verse 28, for he mightily convinced
the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that
Jesus is the Christ. This man, Apollos, being taught
and gifted of God, mightily convinced the Jews in the face of great
opposition publicly declaring to them from the Word of God
with convincing argument that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ
of God and that the Christ of God is Jesus, the Savior of the
world. Now, we ought to notice the character
of this man of Solomon. He was truly a man whose faith
should be followed by those who seek the glory of God. Though
he was a mighty, well-trained, well-respected popular preacher,
he was willing to be taught by a pen maker in New Orleans. Now
can you imagine this man Apollos? He was trained in the great school
at Alexandria under the teachings of such brilliant men as Philo
the Jew. But this man Apollos had been
converted by the grace of God. He had been taught of God and
therefore he was anxious to learn of the Lord. And so he sits down
at the table of a tent-maker and his wife. And they said,
Apollos, do you remember how that John said, I indeed baptize
you with water, that there's one after me, mightier than me,
who shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire? Yes,
I remember John teaching that. Do you know he did it? Do what? Yeah, a few years ago, back in
Jerusalem, 40 days after the Lord ascended back into glory,
he poured out his spirit in his church. Apollos said, tell me
what's happening. And those humble people taught
Apollos the way of God. And though this man Apollos was appalled
and elevated by these he thought nothing great for himself. Envy, pride, and personal ambitions
are very great and very common sins in the Church. If you read the first three chapters
of the First Corinthians, you will see that when Apollos came
to Corinth, those Corinthians tried to pit Apollos against
Paul and tried to pit Paul against Apollos. One said, I am of Apollos,
and another said, I'm of Apollos. Paul's the mighty apostle to
the Gentiles, but Apollos is the great orator of the church.
But neither Paul nor Apollos allowed his pride and sinful
ambition to get in the way. They were both intent to be fellow
laborers, fellow servants, serving the calls of Christ in the place
where God put them with the gifts God gave them in the time which
God allotted for them and they would have nothing to do with
this itty-bitty man. Let me tell you a story. It's a true story. F.B. Meyer was a famous pastor
in London, England in the middle ages. He was not only a tremendous
preacher, he was a tremendous scholar. He wrote many commentaries
and books expounding the scriptures. One day, after Meyer had been
ministering in London for a number of years, a young man, a 19-year-old
boy, came to town. And he preached with such angelic
eloquence that immediately thousands of people began to listen. And
before long, There was no place in London, no public place, no
church building, no place in London that could house the thousands
who crowded to hear this little boy preaching the gospel of Christ. That young boy wonder, that 19-year-old
boy was Charles Adams Spurgeon. And this is what F.B. Meyer wrote
concerning Spurgeon and his ministry when he came to London. Let me
read it to you. He said, when I looked at the immediate world-famed
glory of young Charles Haddon Spurgeon, I was filled with envy,
jealousy, and personal consternation. I can understand that. I hope
I can understand this. He said, I took it to the Lord.
I determined that I would pray for that young rising star Every
day I prayed for that young and brilliant orator. The day soon
came when every time Spurgeon won a victory, I rejoiced as
though I had had a part in it myself, for I had prayed for
him and held him up before the Lord. When God blessed Spurgeon,
it was an answer to my prayers, and I rejoiced in the favor of
God upon him. That's kind of menopolis in the
long run. They weren't in competition.
They were supporting one another. Fellow helpers in the long run.
All let this be our ambition. To know Christ and to make Him
known for the glory of God. If that's your heart's ambition
and mine, nothing in earth or hell shall ever divide our hearts.
Amen.