Acts 18 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00Acts chapter 18 verse [music] 1.
2. 0:03After these things, he left Athens and
3. 0:06went to [music] Corinth.
4. 0:08And he found a Jew named Aquila, [music]
5. 0:12a native of Pontius, having recently
6. 0:15come from Italy with his wife Priscilla,
7. 0:19because Claudius had commanded all the
8. 0:21Jews to leave Rome.
9. 0:23>> [clears throat]
10. 0:24>> He, Paul, came to them and because he
11. 0:27was of the same trade, he stayed with
12. 0:29them and they were working, for by trade
13. 0:32they were tentmakers.
14. 0:36And he was reasoning in the synagogue
15. 0:39every Sabbath and trying to persuade
16. 0:42Jews [music] and Greeks.
17. 0:44But when Silas and Timothy came down
18. 0:46from Macedonia, Paul began devoting
19. 0:49himself completely [music]
20. 0:51to the word, solemnly testifying to the
21. 0:53Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
22. 0:57An interesting little insight here, Paul
23. 0:59meets
24. 1:00uh a man and his wife, Priscilla and
25. 1:03Aquila,
26. 1:04and he
27. 1:06begins to partner with them in a cottage
28. 1:09industry. They're making tents together.
29. 1:11And the implication is that when Silas
30. 1:14and Timothy come, they're able to free
31. 1:17him up to devote himself exclusively to
32. 1:21the word. They probably start making the
33. 1:23tents that he was [music] helping
34. 1:25Priscilla and Aquila make.
35. 1:28But when they resisted and blasphemed,
36. 1:30he, Paul, shook out his garments and
37. 1:33said to them, "Your [music] blood be on
38. 1:35your own heads. I am clean.
39. 1:38From now on, I will go to the Gentiles."
40. 1:41This seems to be the [music] theme of
41. 1:43what he does.
42. 1:45Crispus, the leader of the synagogue,
43. 1:48believed in the Lord with all his
44. 1:50household, and many of the Corinthians,
45. 1:53when they heard, were believing and
46. 1:55being baptized.
47. 1:57And the Lord said to Paul in the night
48. 2:00by a vision,
49. 2:02"Do not be afraid any longer,
50. 2:05but go on speaking
51. 2:07and do not be silent,
52. 2:10for I am with you
53. 2:12and no man will [music] attack you in
54. 2:15order to harm you,
55. 2:16for I have many people in this city."
56. 2:21Paul does not strike us as a scared man,
57. 2:24but courage is not the absence of fear.
58. 2:27It's obedience in the face of fear.
59. 2:30And so, apparently, he was struggling.
60. 2:33Apparently, he had threats on every
61. 2:36side.
62. 2:37And so, the Lord spoke to him in the
63. 2:38night, "Do not be afraid any longer, but
64. 2:41go on speaking and do not be silent,
65. 2:45for I am with you and no man will attack
66. 2:48you in order to harm you, for I have
67. 2:50many people in this city."
68. 2:53God had many people in that city, but
69. 2:55those many people that belonged to him
70. 2:57still needed to hear and be changed by
71. 3:00the message that he had given to Paul.
72. 3:04And he settled there a year and 6
73. 3:06months, teaching the word of God among
74. 3:09them.
75. 3:10But while Gallio was proconsul of
76. 3:13Achaia,
77. 3:14the Jews with one accord rose up against
78. 3:17Paul and brought him before the judgment
79. 3:20seat,
80. 3:21saying, "This man persuades men to
81. 3:23worship God contrary to the law."
82. 3:29But when Paul was about to open his
83. 3:31mouth, Gallio said to the Jews,
84. 3:35"If it were a matter of wrong or of
85. 3:38vicious crime,
86. 3:40O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to
87. 3:43put up with you.
88. 3:44But if there are questions about words
89. 3:47and names and your own law, look after
90. 3:50it yourselves. I am unwilling to be a
91. 3:53judge of these matters.
92. 3:55He sounds like a good
93. 3:58secular ruler here.
94. 4:00I'm I'm willing to help with real
95. 4:02serious issues, but I'm not going to get
96. 4:05into your pathetic debates.
97. 4:07And he drove them away from the judgment
98. 4:10seat.
99. 4:12And they took hold of Sosthenes, the
100. 4:15leader of the synagogue, and began
101. 4:17beating him in front of the judgment
102. 4:19seat.
103. 4:20But Gallio was not concerned about any
104. 4:23of these things. Gallio is a Roman. He
105. 4:27doesn't care about religious practices.
106. 4:30He doesn't really care if they beat up
107. 4:31on each other. He says, "If what you're
108. 4:34worried about isn't in the penal code of
109. 4:36the Roman system, get lost."
110. 4:39Paul, having remained many days longer,
111. 4:42took leave of the brethren and put out
112. 4:44to sea for Syria. And with him were
113. 4:47Priscilla and Aquila.
114. 4:49In Cenchrea, he had his hair cut, for he
115. 4:53was keeping a vow.
116. 4:55They came to Ephesus and he left them
117. 4:57there. Now, he himself entered the
118. 4:59synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
119. 5:03So, this idea that he had his hair cut,
120. 5:05for he was keeping a vow, shows that
121. 5:08Paul is still trying to win the Jews. He
122. 5:12does not believe in their legal system.
123. 5:15He does not believe in salvation by the
124. 5:18law, but he does believe in becoming all
125. 5:21things to all men. And so, he's keeping
126. 5:24a vow, which elsewhere we learn,
127. 5:27some of the brethren asked him to
128. 5:29participate in as a demonstration.
129. 5:32So, there's still tension in the church.
130. 5:36There's still people who, even though
131. 5:38they're not requiring something of the
132. 5:40Gentiles, regarding themselves, they're
133. 5:42still abiding by the law.
134. 5:45And that does not mean that they're
135. 5:48correct. It means they're on a journey.
136. 5:51And it means that Paul is willing to
137. 5:53bear with their ignorance, bear with the
138. 5:56pace of their faith and grace as they
139. 5:59come to greater and greater clarity. So,
140. 6:02it likely entails that he shaved his
141. 6:04head
142. 6:05to fast and [clears throat] undertake a
143. 6:08vow with these men, a season of
144. 6:11consecration to show that he was
145. 6:15participating in temple service, that he
146. 6:17was part of the community of the Jews
147. 6:20still. Luke is not being random when he
148. 6:22juxtaposes the shaving of his head with
149. 6:25the reasoning with the Jews in the
150. 6:26synagogue. He's trying to show us why
151. 6:28one occasioned the other.
152. 6:32They came to Ephesus and he left them
153. 6:34there. Now, he himself entered the
154. 6:36synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
155. 6:39When they asked him to stay for a longer
156. 6:41time, he did not consent.
157. 6:44But taking leave of them and saying, "I
158. 6:46will return to you again if God wills."
159. 6:48He set sail from Ephesus. When he had
160. 6:51landed at Caesarea, he went up and
161. 6:54greeted the church and went down to
162. 6:56Antioch.
163. 6:57So, he landed at Caesarea, that's right
164. 6:59in the middle of Israel, and he's back
165. 7:02among the community of the Jews. And he
166. 7:05goes and greets the church and then
167. 7:07moves to Antioch. Although, there are
168. 7:09four cities that are named Antioch, so
169. 7:11it's confusing.
170. 7:13And having spent some time there, he
171. 7:15left and passed successively through the
172. 7:18Galatian region and Phrygia,
173. 7:20strengthening all the disciples.
174. 7:23Paul has a pattern of planting churches,
175. 7:26coming back and establishing those
176. 7:28churches, and regularly circulating
177. 7:30through and encouraging those
178. 7:32established churches. 1 2 3.
179. 7:37Now, a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian
180. 7:40by birth,
181. 7:42an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, and he
182. 7:45was mighty in the scriptures.
183. 7:49This man had been instructed in the way
184. 7:53of the Lord, meaning the way of the Lord
185. 7:55Jesus,
186. 7:56and being fervent in spirit, he was
187. 7:59speaking and teaching accurately the
188. 8:03things concerning Jesus,
189. 8:06being acquainted only with the baptism
190. 8:08of John.
191. 8:11Luke is not making a mistake here.
192. 8:15Luke is setting us up to understand
193. 8:18how people can be good, powerful,
194. 8:22effective, and accurate Christians in
195. 8:25their faith,
196. 8:26and yet still be missing essential
197. 8:29pieces in the whole picture of their
198. 8:31faith.
199. 8:33So, Luke is going to say some things
200. 8:35about this guy named Apollos
201. 8:37that he doesn't say about anybody else
202. 8:39in either of his books, and that no one
203. 8:42in the entire New Testament
204. 8:44says about anybody else. No one in the
205. 8:46entire New Testament is called eloquent.
206. 8:50That means this guy was an orator. He
207. 8:52was able to communicate publicly very
208. 8:56effectively.
209. 8:57So, let me read it again. Now, a Jew
210. 9:00named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth,
211. 9:03an eloquent man,
212. 9:06came to Ephesus. And eloquent means
213. 9:09learned and well-spoken.
214. 9:12Came to Ephesus, and he was mighty in
215. 9:16the scriptures.
216. 9:17Do you hear the compliments?
217. 9:19Eloquent,
218. 9:20mighty in the scriptures,
219. 9:23he had been instructed in the way of the
220. 9:24Lord,
221. 9:26fervent in spirit,
222. 9:29eloquent, mighty, fervent, instructed,
223. 9:32speaking and teaching accurately the
224. 9:35things concerning Jesus,
225. 9:39but being acquainted only with the
226. 9:41baptism of John.
227. 9:43John's baptism was a baptism of
228. 9:45repentance.
229. 9:47People were immersed because of the
230. 9:50change of heart that was taking place in
231. 9:52them.
232. 9:53They were throwing away their old
233. 9:55habits. They were renouncing their
234. 9:57attitudes of sin. They were turning
235. 9:59their hearts to seek God. They were
236. 10:02removing the rubble. And so their
237. 10:04immersion, when they were going down
238. 10:06into the water,
239. 10:08it was
240. 10:09a symbolic washing away
241. 10:12of their old self.
242. 10:14But the baptism of Jesus
243. 10:17had all of that included, but was
244. 10:19materially different in that it was not
245. 10:23just a symbol that represented the
246. 10:26negative work of turning from sin,
247. 10:29washing away sin,
248. 10:31but it also represented the positive
249. 10:34work
250. 10:35of being immersed into Christ,
251. 10:39being baptized, plunged into Christ,
252. 10:44and specifically taking on his name.
253. 10:48So the baptism in Jesus had to be evoked
254. 10:53with the person baptizing calling out
255. 10:56the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
256. 10:59Because the person being baptized was
257. 11:01not seen as merely symbolizing the
258. 11:03repentance he had undergone,
259. 11:05but he was symbolizing a burial of that
260. 11:08old nature that he had repented of, and
261. 11:11a positive immersion into the identity
262. 11:15and saving name of Jesus Christ.
263. 11:19And he began to speak out boldly in the
264. 11:22synagogue.
265. 11:24Do you hear the adjectives that Luke is
266. 11:26using for this guy? Eloquent, mighty,
267. 11:29learned, accurately
268. 11:32speaking boldly.
269. 11:35But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
270. 11:38they took him aside
271. 11:40and explained to him the way of God
272. 11:44more accurately.
273. 11:47Luke has just told us that he was
274. 11:49speaking accurately, but Luke tells us
275. 11:51what he was missing. He only had the
276. 11:54baptism of John. So, the more accurate
277. 11:59understanding baptism
278. 12:03in the name of Jesus.
279. 12:06And there's no fight that ensues. He
280. 12:09doesn't say, "I'm of the Apollos
281. 12:12denomination and you're of the Priscilla
282. 12:15and Aquila denomination."
283. 12:18He didn't get defensive because he's
284. 12:21sold out to Jesus.
285. 12:23He's doing it for the right reason. So,
286. 12:26when he hears someone tell him, "You
287. 12:28learned it, eloquent, accurate, mighty
288. 12:32man, you don't know the right baptism."
289. 12:35He wants to know it.
290. 12:39And when he wanted to go across to
291. 12:42Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and
292. 12:45wrote to the disciples to welcome him.
293. 12:47And when he had arrived, he greatly
294. 12:49helped those who had believed through
295. 12:53grace.
296. 12:54Grace doesn't exclude accuracy. It
297. 12:57doesn't even exclude more accurately.
298. 13:01But he's walking in that grace. So,
299. 13:04after he receives the baptism more
300. 13:07accurately, not only does his ministry
301. 13:10expand, [music]
302. 13:11but now the disciples where he was
303. 13:14instructed more accurately, they write
304. 13:16letters and he's able to cross over to
305. 13:19Achaia and be a more effective
306. 13:21mouthpiece, ultimately an apostle of the
307. 13:25truth.
308. 13:27For he powerfully refuted the Jews in
309. 13:31public. Now we got another one,
310. 13:33powerfully. Luke doesn't speak like this
311. 13:36[music] even about Paul.
312. 13:38This guy Apollos was something else, but
313. 13:40he didn't let his great gifts become a
314. 13:43hindrance to his great humility
315. 13:45or an ability to walk more accurately in
316. 13:48the grace.
317. 13:50For he powerfully refuted the Jews
318. 13:51[music] in public demonstrating by the
319. 13:54scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
320. 13:58What a beautiful story of how a mighty
321. 14:02[music] gifted minister can become more
322. 14:05mighty,
323. 14:06more accurate,
324. 14:08by humbling himself to a [music] less
325. 14:11gifted
326. 14:13Priscilla and Aquila
327. 14:15and not be weakened by it, not be less
328. 14:17for it,
329. 14:19but cross over and have a more effective
330. 14:20ministry.
331. 14:23>> [music]
332. 14:33[music]