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In the heart of Paul's second missionary journey, he makes a pivotal choice to leave Aquila and Priscilla in the idolatrous metropolis of Ephesus just as a powerful new voice enters the scene. What happens next in a single private conversation reveals how God multiplies courage, accuracy, and impact through ordinary believers working together. What if the key to overcoming discouragement in your faith isn't going it alone, but allowing the right people to come alongside you at exactly the right time?
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/we-are-not-alone
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/we-are-not-alone
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00So there was a salesman out on his sales journey trying to sell something,
00:05and he wasn't paying attention.
00:07It was an area he wasn't familiar with.
00:08He drove off the road into a ditch and got stuck.
00:11So he noticed a farmhouse close by, and he decided he would go knock on the door,
00:14see if the farmer could help.
00:15And he knocks on the door, and he says,
00:18hey, do you have a tractor that will help me get my car out of the ditch?
00:21And the farmer goes, nope, but I got my mule blue.
00:27Blue, I doubt a mule is strong enough to pull a car out of the ditch
00:30is what the guy responded with.
00:32And the farmer said, ah, you don't know blue.
00:35So the mule's proud owner responded, and he hitched blue to the vehicle.
00:41So he yelled, pull, blue.
00:44The car didn't move.
00:45So the farmer called out, pull, Elmer.
00:48Car moved a little.
00:50And then he cried out, pull, biscuit.
00:52And the car came right out of the ditch.
00:55The guy goes, thank you so very much, but I have a question.
00:59You called your mule by three different names.
01:02Why?
01:04Simple, said the farmer.
01:05Blue is blind, and if he thought he was the only one pulling,
01:08your car would still be in the ditch.
01:16Isn't it nice to know there are other people walking along with us
01:19in this walk of faith, encouraging us and helping us,
01:23that we're not in this alone?
01:25Now, technically, Blue was alone.
01:27He was, yeah, I got it.
01:28But you know the point is, it's nice that we're here together.
01:32It's not one or two people doing work of ministry.
01:35It's we are doing the work of ministry, and we are in this together.
01:38We are a team working together.
01:41We need to know that we are not alone when we serve God.
01:44We're not alone in serving God.
01:48To believe that we're alone could lead to discouragement.
01:50It gets tough.
01:51It gets hard.
01:52You know, the joke is, of course, ministry would be fun if it weren't for the people.
01:56Ministry's difficult.
01:57It's hard.
01:58And sometimes you get discouraged.
02:01We need to know that there are others working along with us.
02:04Knowing that we're working together as a team for the gospel ministry gives us courage to continue on.
02:09And you and I need courage.
02:11We need to be encouraged.
02:13Sometimes it's really easy to get discouraged.
02:15Things are happening or something doesn't take place like you think it should.
02:20And then something happens like you think it shouldn't have happened.
02:25We need courage.
02:26We need to be encouraged daily, and we need to give encouragement daily to others.
02:33And that's what we see in the text here today.
02:36We see that in Acts 18, following down the rest of the chapter,
02:41we see this idea, come alongside another believer to strengthen them and help them grow in their faith.
02:48We are not in this alone.
02:50It's never designed to be alone.
02:53It's designed to something that we do together.
02:55That's why it's called the body of Christ.
02:57We do it together.
02:59How did we ever come to think that growing in our faith was an individualistic attitude,
03:03an evangelistic thing that we do all on our own?
03:05How did we ever come to that thinking?
03:07That it's just something that me and God do together,
03:09and that no one else is part of my life at all.
03:14Last week, we ended at Paul in Corinth.
03:17Galileo said, hey, I'm not going to try this case of religion.
03:20You guys take care of it yourself.
03:22He's not even interested in people getting beat up in front of his tribunal.
03:25He could care less.
03:26So that allows Paul to stay longer in Corinth.
03:29And that's where we pick up the storyline right now.
03:31He's still in Corinth.
03:32Corinth, he's about ready to depart Corinth.
03:35So look with me in verse number 18, 18, chapter 18, verse 18.
03:41We want to look at this together.
03:42This is God's word.
03:43We want to look at it together.
03:45So after this, after this situation with Galileo, Paul stayed many days longer.
03:50And we don't know how long he stayed.
03:51I mean, it just says many days.
03:53So a period of time longer he stayed in Corinth.
03:56Remember, God told him, you'll be safe.
03:57I will protect you.
03:59I have many people in the city yet to be saved.
04:01So he stays longer.
04:02He's there longer.
04:04And then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria.
04:08And with him, Priscilla and Aquila, whom we got introduced to last time.
04:12So they left with him.
04:15At Centuria, he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
04:20And they came to Ephesus.
04:21That's all three of them.
04:22And he left them there.
04:24So Aquila and Priscilla stay in Ephesus.
04:26But he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
04:30When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
04:34If you remember, a couple of, it's been several weeks now.
04:37I lose track of time.
04:38The spirit of God told Paul, you're not allowed to go into Asia.
04:42Ephesus is in Asia.
04:44Now the spirit of God is allowing him to go to Ephesus.
04:46And he'll come back to Ephesus later on.
04:48You'll see that.
04:49Okay.
04:51He reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue.
04:53When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
04:56But on taking leave of them, he said, I will return to you if God wills.
05:01And he set sail from Ephesus.
05:03When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
05:08There's interesting phrasing in there.
05:09We'll talk about that.
05:10After spending some time there in Antioch, he departed and went from one place to the next
05:16through the region of Galatia, Kyrgya, strengthening all the disciples known as his third missionary
05:21journey.
05:21And the last one he takes before he goes to Rome.
05:25So why he stopped his ministry in Corinth, I don't know.
05:28I don't know why at this point he says, I'm done, I'm finished.
05:32He, at some reason, it's likely that he's traveling to Jerusalem.
05:36So it's likely he wants to get into the ocean and the vessels before winter comes.
05:40Because when winter comes, the seas are very rough and vessels don't like to travel in
05:44the winter.
05:44So that's likely the reason why he hastened his leaving of this area.
05:52He goes to the seaport and then he cuts his hair.
05:55You say, well, why did he cut his hair?
05:57Because he was under some sort of vow, most likely a Nazarite vow.
06:00The occasion for Paul to make the Nazarite vow is unknown.
06:03We don't know why he did it.
06:05Why he took the Nazarite vow, but he knows he must complete the vow.
06:08When you take a vow with God, you must complete it.
06:10You can't let it hang open.
06:11You have to be faithful to your vows that you make to God.
06:15That's in all areas of our life.
06:17We need to be faithful to the vows we make to God.
06:19Numbers 30, verse 2 says, if a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind
06:24himself
06:25by a pledge, he shall not break his word.
06:28He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
06:31It's serious when we make a vow to God that we keep our vows to God.
06:34So he's going to keep his vow to God.
06:36And you say, well, wait a second.
06:37I thought you're supposed to cut your hair as a Nazarite because you let your hair grow
06:41really long.
06:42You don't cut your hair.
06:42You don't drink wine or strong drink or anything with grapes, the vow of a Nazarite.
06:47You would think that you're supposed to carry that.
06:49You're supposed to do it in Jerusalem, have the hair burnt on the altar in Jerusalem and
06:53offer a sacrifice accordingly there.
06:54Well, there's some information that I learned this week.
06:57And that's this.
06:57Marshall tells us if the vow was completed away from Jerusalem, the hair could still be
07:02brought there to be burned.
07:04So he shaved his head there.
07:05He carries it to Jerusalem, to the temple, and burns his hair there later on.
07:10Such vows were made either in thankfulness for past blessings, such as Paul's safekeeping
07:15in Corinth, or as part of a petition for future blessings, such as safekeeping on Paul's impending
07:21journey.
07:22So Paul does this as a sense of gratitude and thankfulness to God.
07:25Thank you, God.
07:26Thank you for protecting me in Corinth.
07:28And thank you, God, for blessing the evangelistic ministry you've called me to.
07:32So he does it for gratefulness and thankfulness to God.
07:37It could have lasted a full year and a half.
07:40I mean, my hair grows pretty fast.
07:41I don't know what it would look like after a year and a half not cutting it.
07:44I mean, I'm sure it's probably pretty long, however long his hair was.
07:47Shaves it off, so he's bald-headed at this point.
07:50Keeps the hair.
07:50He's going to go back to Jerusalem and eventually burn it.
07:54He was a Jew still.
07:57He still abided.
07:58He still was able to use some of his Jewishness.
08:01And he takes this Nazarite vow as a Jew.
08:04It was a purely voluntary thing.
08:06It wasn't something someone had to do.
08:08So Paul is not abandoning grace to be perfected by the works of the law.
08:12He's not trying to do that.
08:13It was a voluntary thing to do.
08:15Thank you, God, for protecting me.
08:16Thank you, God, for the future blessings you're going to give to me.
08:19So he wasn't doing it to make himself a better person before God and gain more favor with God.
08:25He wasn't doing it to merit something.
08:27He was doing it because he was thankful.
08:29He's not abandoning grace for being perfected by the works of the law.
08:33That's what happened at Galatia.
08:34The Galatians did that.
08:36They started adding the law, saying, hey, I'm a Christian already, but I'm going to add the law to my
08:40life to become a better Christian.
08:41So if I do these things, God's favor will rest upon me.
08:44So they're being perfected by the law.
08:46That's here the problem in Galatians 3.3.
08:49Are you so foolish, Paul tells the Galatians?
08:51Having begun by the Spirit, you're born again by the Spirit.
08:54Are you now being perfected by the flesh, by the things that you do?
08:58Paul's not doing that.
08:59He's not abandoning grace for the works of the law.
09:01He's simply saying, thank you, God, for what you've done.
09:04So he had shaved his head.
09:06He goes into the synagogue and Ephesus with a shaved head.
09:09You know there were questions.
09:10Why is your head shaved?
09:12He probably had a chance to tell them about it.
09:15He probably got their attention, as much so that they desired him to stay.
09:20Remember, every place he's been, it's Paul derangement syndrome.
09:23Not here.
09:24They're asking him to stay.
09:26That's not typical.
09:27So maybe that shaved head got their attention because they wanted him to stay longer at Ephesus.
09:31He can't.
09:32He can't.
09:34So you look at it like this.
09:35Paul's vow was about thankfulness to God and evangelism.
09:40It was not about legalism.
09:43He's using it to become a better evangelist for God.
09:46He talks about this in 1 Corinthians 9 to him.
09:49This is how he lived his life.
09:51He said, to the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win Jews.
09:56To those under the law, I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law,
10:01that I might win those under the law.
10:02I will become, as long as it's not sinful, I will become all things to all men so that I
10:07can win some.
10:08So it's about evangelism, not about legalism here in this case.
10:12It appears Silas and Timothy are not with them.
10:15They stay in Corinth.
10:16They're strengthening the churches in Corinth.
10:17They did not come with Paul and Aquila and Priscilla.
10:20But Aquila and Priscilla do accompany him.
10:22And they departed for a city called Ephesus.
10:25One of the largest cities.
10:26There's about 300,000 people.
10:28Huge city.
10:29Steeped in idolatry.
10:31Kind of like Athens and Corinth.
10:33But on top of that, the occult was very strong at Ephesus.
10:37As a matter of fact, in a couple of weeks, you're going to see exactly what the believers do with
10:40the occultic material.
10:41They had collected in their house after they became a Christian.
10:44So the occult is really big in Ephesus.
10:47It was the head of the capital of the Roman province of Asia.
10:51And there was a temple to Diana.
10:54The Roman name is Artemis.
10:56In fact, that plays a part in chapter 19.
10:58We're going to see that they yell for hours.
11:00Great is the God Artemis or Diana.
11:04It was located there.
11:06And the temple built to her was one of the seven wonders of the world.
11:11Imagine it would be quite great looking.
11:12I mean, as an architectural thing, it was beautiful to look at.
11:16She was considered the fertility small g goddess.
11:22And cultic prostitution played a big role in her services.
11:26There were about at least thousands of prostitutes available to minister in her services every evening.
11:33It's so unusual.
11:34We have a hard time understanding that.
11:36None of us would think, hey, let's go to a prostitute.
11:39It's an act of spiritual worship.
11:40They did.
11:41They considered it an act of spiritual worship.
11:45So foreign to our thinking.
11:47So immoral.
11:49So Paul promised to come back to Ephesus.
11:51I'll come back.
11:52And then you notice what he says?
11:53If the Lord wills it.
11:56If the Lord wills it.
11:57What a great attitude.
11:59If the Lord wills it.
12:01Paul was content in knowing that his life was in God's hands.
12:04If God wills.
12:06I'll come.
12:06If God wills.
12:08He was, he was, the problem that James,
12:12James was writing to a group of people that thought that their life was in their own hands.
12:17And he's writing to them saying, no, you got to understand.
12:19It's not like that.
12:20James 4, this is what he says.
12:22Come now, you who say today or tomorrow,
12:25we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit.
12:30I have a plan.
12:32Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring.
12:35What is your life?
12:36For you are a midst that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
12:40Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.
12:45As it is, you boast in your arrogance.
12:47All such boasting is evil.
12:50That just reminds us, we need to stop telling God what he can do in our lives.
12:57We need to stop telling God what our plans are.
13:05As a recovering control freak, it's hard for me to do that.
13:11It's hard for me to just let God take control completely in my life because why?
13:15I think I need to control my life.
13:17I need to control the people around me.
13:19I need to control this situation here.
13:21As a recovering control freak, I think I need to have, instead of saying, God, I'm yours.
13:28I'm going this direction, but if you close that door, I'm willing to go that direction.
13:33Or if you close that door, I'm willing to go that direction.
13:36God, whatever you want, I'm willing to do it.
13:40It doesn't mean we don't plan.
13:42Me either think, well, we don't plan.
13:43No, no, plan.
13:44Please plan.
13:45God gives you an intelligence and gives you his word to make plans.
13:48It just means your plans may not come to fruition.
13:51He may close that door and open up another door and we have to be okay with that.
13:55We have to be okay with that.
13:59We have to be flexible enough to know and willing to change our plans for God's plans if he changes
14:05that.
14:05We must be able to recognize when God shuts one door and opens up another and be willing to walk
14:10through that open door instead of doing my plan that I planned.
14:14For the saying is true, blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape.
14:22We plan, but we make room for God's will in our life.
14:25And we have to be willing to do what God wants, not what I want.
14:29He says, well, if God wills, I'll come back, which God did will and he needs to go back.
14:33He said that he went up to greet the church, went up to greet the church, then he went down
14:39to Antioch.
14:40If you ever see went up, it always is a reference to Jerusalem, always, always.
14:45Went up to greet the church is a reference to going up to Jerusalem.
14:48So he visited the Jerusalem church, then he went down to Antioch.
14:52You always see in the Bible, in the New Testament, going up to Jerusalem, going down from Jerusalem, always.
14:58So they're going up, he's going up and he's taking his hair, I'm sure, to have it burned in the
15:03temple, to fulfill his vow.
15:07So, so Paul ended his second missionary journey at the church that sent them out in Antioch of Syria.
15:14He's reporting back to his sending church.
15:17And that's what missionaries do.
15:18That's why when we have missionaries come here, they're giving a report of what God is doing with them in
15:23the countries where they represent.
15:25When Teresa and I were, were missionaries, we'd come back to the United States and we'd go back and report
15:29to all the churches who supported us.
15:31That's what he's doing.
15:32He's reporting back to the church, what, what, what God is doing and giving encouragement to those that God is
15:37at work upon in the whole empire or reports back.
15:41He's gone probably about two years since he left Antioch.
15:45It's a long time.
15:46It's gone about at least two years coming back.
15:49And after spending some time there, look at this graphic.
15:51After spending some time there, he goes from on their top right, that's Syrian Antioch in that little tan area,
15:57Syria.
15:58He begins his third missionary journey and he's traveling east, westward, excuse me.
16:04And he goes through the Sicilian gates and then he goes to the churches he's already established in that area.
16:08And then he moves around.
16:09He'll end up back in Jerusalem and that's his end of his third missionary journey.
16:13Then he goes to Rome and he doesn't come back from Rome.
16:16So he's starting now his third missionary journey, strengthening all those churches that he had started on the previous journeys.
16:23So while strengthening their churches, he also then gave them something that they're supposed to do, the churches of Galatia.
16:28He began what's known as the weekly collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
16:32It wasn't to support the church.
16:34It was for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
16:36But that weekly collection, he began that as he was traveling around.
16:39It's recorded in 1 Corinthians 16.
16:42Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, that's what he's doing right now.
16:49He gave them direction while he's traveling through these churches, he's already started Galatia.
16:53So you also are to do on the first day of every week, each Jew has put up something aside
16:58to store it up that as he may prosper so that there'll be no collecting when I come.
17:02So he begins this thing of collecting money for the Jerusalem saints.
17:06Now Luke introduces us to someone brand new.
17:09We've not met this person already.
17:11His name is Apollos.
17:12He's a Jew from Alexandria.
17:14Alexandria is in Northern Africa.
17:17Alexandria, it was a big city at the time, lots of Jews in the city.
17:21The library at Alexandria, remember that story?
17:24It burned.
17:26Could you imagine how much human history was in that library when it burned?
17:30There was probably a lot of bad philosophy too, I'm sure.
17:33But a lot of human history was lost when that library burned.
17:36Had the most volumes around in the world.
17:38That's Alexandria.
17:39It's also the place where they translated the Old Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek.
17:44We know it as the Septuagint.
17:45About 200 years before the birth of Christ.
17:48That was in Alexandria.
17:50And also Philo the Jew who was a historian, a little bit of an allegorizer, not important.
17:55But nevertheless, he was their well-known Philo in Alexandria.
17:59So here's what happens.
18:00Verse number 24.
18:02Now a Jew named Apollos, so we know now his ethnicity, he's a Jew.
18:06A native of Alexandria came to Ephesus.
18:09Well, he's at Paul, Paul's in Ephesus, Aquila and Priscilla are in Ephesus.
18:14Paul had left and gone to Jerusalem, Aquila and Priscilla are in Ephesus, excuse me.
18:17He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures.
18:20He knew the Old Testament well.
18:22Had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit.
18:27Now your Bible may have a footnote at the bottom.
18:28It actually has an article with that word spirit.
18:30You could translate it fervent in the spirit, which would then be referring to the spirit of God, not his
18:36spirit.
18:37He spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus.
18:41Luke's giving us some information about him.
18:43Though he knew only the baptism of John, he lacked some knowledge.
18:49He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.
18:51But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more
18:57accurately.
18:58And when he had wished to cross to Achaia, this is Apollos,
19:02the brothers there at Ephesus encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him.
19:07Achaia is where the church of Corinth is at.
19:09And when he arrived in Achaia, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.
19:14For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
19:20Not that Jesus was the Christ, but that Christ was Jesus.
19:23I like that wording.
19:25It's not a coincidence that Aquila and Priscilla remained in Ephesus.
19:28Why?
19:29Because God's bringing Apollos and he needs them there.
19:33God is good at putting his people where he needs them, right?
19:35You know that?
19:36He puts his people where he needs them.
19:37And he needs Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus.
19:40So Luke describes him as learned, well-versed in the scriptures, the Old Testament, certainly.
19:45But here's the question.
19:47Was Apollos a believer, a Christian, before meeting Aquila and Priscilla, or did they bring
19:52him to faith?
19:54Good question.
19:55We could only go on the information that Luke gives us.
19:58I think it's probably about 70, 30, 60, 40 in the commentaries, whether they think he
20:03was a Christian or not when Aquila and Priscilla met him.
20:06I'll give you my opinion.
20:08Luke just tells us certain things.
20:09Let's just go with what the scripture says first, okay?
20:12We can speculate certain things, but let's just go with what we know for sure.
20:16What did he know?
20:17Well, he knew the baptism of John.
20:19So he knew John the Baptist.
20:21He knew John the Baptist was the forerunner for the Messiah that was to come.
20:25For John even said himself, I'm not the one.
20:27Look for one that comes after me.
20:29So he knew John's baptism.
20:31He knew that John was a forerunner of the Messiah, that John pointed out the Messiah.
20:36Maybe he was even around when, I mean, because some of the early apostles were disciples
20:41of John the Baptist as well.
20:42Maybe he was there when, when John cried out or he heard the message, behold, the lamb
20:46of God, which takes away the sin of the world, pointing to Jesus.
20:49Maybe he also knew that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah.
20:54That's what we know that he knows.
20:56That's what, that's all that we know that he knows.
20:58He knows that.
20:59So I would say he is a believer.
21:01He is a believer.
21:02He just is lacking in information.
21:05He does not have something that he had not heard or been taught about.
21:10And so they pull him aside and give him more accurate information.
21:13I think he was a believer.
21:16He was instructed in the way of the Lord, fervent in the spirit, taught accurately things concerning
21:22Jesus.
21:22So he had knowledge, but it wasn't complete knowledge.
21:25It was inaccurate, inadequate knowledge.
21:27So what was he deficient in?
21:29Again, we're not exactly sure.
21:32What was he deficient in?
21:35What was he deficient in?
21:37Apollo spoke boldly and passionately in the synagogue in Ephesus and caught the attention
21:41of Aquila and Priscilla, who had stayed in Ephesus ministering.
21:45So they're hearing him preach and they're hearing that he, that he's lacking some information
21:50that he does not have, but he knows some things about Jesus.
21:53Others, he doesn't know.
21:56He doesn't have all the information.
21:58And the text says, and they instructed him.
22:01So both Aquila and Priscilla, as they took him aside privately, were giving him more information
22:07that he didn't have.
22:08He didn't know this information.
22:09He didn't have it.
22:10So they pulled him aside privately.
22:12And I love this.
22:13They didn't embarrass him in the synagogue.
22:15They didn't raise their hand and say, hey, I don't think you have all the information
22:18over there.
22:19You probably should stop talking or embarrass them in public.
22:22Like, no, they pulled him aside privately and said, hey, let's talk.
22:27We've got some things we want to share with you.
22:29Things I think that you will help you and become a better minister of the gospel.
22:33So they pulled him aside privately.
22:35That is so good.
22:36They didn't make it a public matter.
22:37I like that.
22:38They wanted to maintain the unity of the faith.
22:41Ephesians chapter four.
22:42I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling
22:47to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
22:52bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond
22:57of peace.
22:57They weren't trying to make divisions.
22:59They were trying to keep the unity of the spirit.
23:00So they pulled him aside privately and said, hey, can we talk?
23:04And I'm sure he said, yeah.
23:06I'm sure he said, yeah.
23:08So what did he lack?
23:09What did he lack?
23:10Okay.
23:10He only knew the baptism of John.
23:12So he didn't understand Christian baptism.
23:14He didn't understand.
23:15He only knew the baptism of John.
23:17He didn't understand Christian baptism.
23:19Matthew three, talking about John the Baptist.
23:22John says, I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than
23:28I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry.
23:30He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
23:36I don't think he understood this part right here.
23:38He only knew the baptism of John, but Jesus is coming to baptize with the Holy Spirit,
23:42a spiritual baptism that's to take place.
23:46So Christian baptism is symbolizing this union that the believer has with Christ.
23:51It symbolizes the spiritual baptism into Christ, placing us into the body of Christ.
23:56It doesn't save us.
23:58It doesn't do the work.
23:59It symbolizes what the spirit has already done in us.
24:02So it symbolizes the work of the Holy Spirit.
24:04But Romans six is an example here.
24:09So water baptism symbolizes what took place in the believer and points him also to the
24:14baptism of the Holy Spirit because the spirit just does the work.
24:17Romans six.
24:18Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
24:22his death?
24:23We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was
24:28raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
24:33For if we've been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with
24:39him in a resurrection like his.
24:41So he didn't understand this, the spirit baptism.
24:44He didn't understand that.
24:45He only knew the baptism of John.
24:46Also, he didn't have a complete understanding of what the church was.
24:50Notice he's ministering only to Jews.
24:53He doesn't understand that the church is a body of both Jews and Gentiles together in
24:58one body, the people of God of the new covenant.
25:00He only knew the old covenant and he only knew the understanding of the Jewish people alone.
25:05So he understand the church is made up of Jews and Gentiles.
25:09So probably the understanding of the church and he didn't understand the worldwide mission
25:14of the church that he's actually supposed to go to Gentiles as well as Jews.
25:18These are some things he probably lacked in his understanding.
25:22See, chapter 19, which you're going to see next week, if you'll come, is we're going to
25:25be introduced to some people who only knew the baptism of John, similar to Apollos.
25:30But they, upon hearing the story of Jesus, were re-baptized in Jesus's name and received
25:37a visible manifestation of the spirit coming upon them.
25:40None of that takes place with Apollos.
25:42He's not re-baptized and there's no visible manifestation of the spirit coming upon him.
25:46That's why I think he's already saved.
25:48So chapter 19 is a different group of people, different group of people.
25:53Here we see the humility of Apollos.
25:57Here's this guy who's learned, eloquent in speech.
26:00He could have said, hey, I've got this down.
26:02I don't need any instruction from you.
26:04He says, no, please, I need it.
26:06Help me.
26:06You see the humility of him.
26:09He's willing to allow someone to disciple him.
26:13See, I have to confess to you, and I confess to the morning service as well, is I did not
26:16understand that when I got saved.
26:18I got saved, gloriously saved, and somehow I had it in my mind that it was my responsibility
26:24to grow up in the faith alone.
26:28I didn't need anyone else.
26:30Bad understanding.
26:31I say it right now.
26:32Bad understanding.
26:34I didn't feel like I needed someone to come alongside me and teach me anything because God
26:38was already teaching me as well, I need somebody else for.
26:40No, that's bad understanding.
26:42He was willing to let someone come alongside and help him grow in his faith, and I didn't
26:47understand that.
26:48Took me a while to get it.
26:50So Aquila and Priscilla encouraged Apollos in his faith, and through their encouragement,
26:55Apollos becomes a better minister of the gospel.
26:58So he's a better minister after he gets instructed by them.
27:02Their encouragement of Apollos blessed other people.
27:06When you come alongside someone and help them grow up in their faith, it's not just blessing
27:09them.
27:09You're going to bless all the people they touch in their life who encourage someone.
27:15The word actually is made up of two words, N-E-N, which is N-I-N, and then courage.
27:21N-courage.
27:23Literally, it means to put courage into another person.
27:27So when you and I are discouraged, someone comes along and encourages us by placing courage
27:33in us so that we can continue on.
27:35That's what the word means, encourage.
27:37And let me ask you, don't raise your hand, because we all would.
27:40Do you ever get discouraged?
27:41Yes.
27:42We need encouragement.
27:44We need encouragement.
27:47Encouragement is so vital for us to give to one another.
27:50Here's some verses, by all means, not all of them.
27:53Here's just a few about encouragement.
27:56Thessalonians and Hebrews.
27:58Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up just as you are during.
28:02Encourage one another.
28:042, verse 14.
28:05And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, those people who
28:11feel weak and discouraged.
28:14Help the weak.
28:15Be patient with them all.
28:17And then the writer of Hebrews says, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love
28:21and good works.
28:22That means I'm part of someone's life.
28:24I'm pouring my life into their life.
28:26Not neglecting to meet together as a habit of some, but encouraging one another.
28:31And all the more as you see the day drawing near.
28:33Let me say to you, the day is drawing near.
28:36We need encouragement.
28:38It's going to get darker before it gets lighter.
28:40And we need someone to come alongside and help us and put courage into us that we can continue
28:45on doing what we know we're supposed to do.
28:48There are people you know, some of them here today, sitting here, that need encouragement.
28:55You know them.
28:57They need encouragement.
28:58They need for you to come alongside and put courage in them again to continue on.
29:02They need to be encouraged.
29:06After further instruction, Apollos goes to Corinth.
29:09That's where we're going to see him next, to the church that Paul had already established.
29:12So he goes to Corinth, a good fit.
29:15He is a Jew.
29:16Corinth is mostly Gentiles, yes, but he's eloquent.
29:19He knows how to speak well.
29:23The Gentiles in Corinth love that, love the rhetoric, loved all that kind of stuff.
29:27So this was a good match for the church of Corinth.
29:29So he goes to the church in Corinth that Paul established.
29:31We see that in chapter 19, verse 1.
29:34And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, remember he went to Achaia, Corinth is in Achaia.
29:39Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus, and there he found some disciples.
29:43So he's in Corinth, Apollos.
29:46So the church in Ephesus, where he was at, sent along with Apollos a letter of recommendation saying,
29:52hey, this is a good guy.
29:53You can trust him.
29:54He loves the Lord.
29:56He knows what the gospel is.
29:58Don't have any fear of him teaching in your church.
30:00So they sent her along a letter of recommendation saying, trust this guy.
30:04Trust this guy.
30:06It's kind of like what Paul said in 2 Corinthians.
30:09He says, are we beginning to commend ourselves again, or do we need, as some do, letters of
30:13recommendations to you?
30:14I mean, that was a common practice.
30:16They would send a letter of recommendation on saying, hey, trust this guy.
30:19I mean, they don't know this guy.
30:20He just shows up in their church, Apollos.
30:22Never seen him before.
30:23Can we trust him?
30:24Yeah, you can trust him is what they said.
30:26Because by God's grace, they have believed.
30:30So because Aquila and Priscilla helped Apollos grow in his faith, Apollos went on to bless
30:34other believers and be used as God's tool for evangelization.
30:40He was involved in an apologetic ministry with the Jews.
30:45He was instructed by, encouraged by Aquila and Priscilla.
30:47Now he powerfully refuted them.
30:49And the word means he did it over and over again.
30:52They said something.
30:53He said, no, no, that's not what the scripture says.
30:54And they said something.
30:55And no, no, no, that's not what the scripture says.
30:56They said it's over and over and over again.
30:58He kept doing it.
30:59That it was a continual thing, correcting their understanding of what the scripture says
31:03and leading them to Jesus.
31:06Notice what Apollo used to refute the Jews.
31:09What did he use?
31:11Scriptures.
31:12He used the scriptures.
31:13He didn't give them his personal opinion.
31:15He gave them the scriptures.
31:17Something they could trust.
31:18When I came to faith, I think some of you heard in the Christian education now when I
31:21shared my, how I came to faith.
31:23When I came to faith, I had questions about God.
31:25I mean, I just didn't know.
31:27And there was a sergeant that carried his Bible with him.
31:31And I thought, you know, this is the army.
31:33Who carries a Bible in the army?
31:35I mean, I didn't think I would.
31:36So I thought, I'll ask this guy.
31:38So I invited him into my room and I sit down.
31:40I said, here's my question.
31:41And you know what he did?
31:42He did not give me his opinion.
31:43He flipped through the Bible and he goes, here, read right here.
31:46And it was the answer to my question.
31:48So I had another question.
31:49I said, hey, what's this?
31:50Flips in the Bible.
31:51He didn't give me his personal opinion.
31:53He pointed me directly to scripture.
31:55And that's what, that's what he was doing.
31:57It wasn't saying, hey, I think this.
31:59He said, no, this is what the scripture says.
32:01This is what the scripture says.
32:03I did learn something this week that I wasn't aware of.
32:06Martin Luther, Martin Luther.
32:09He thought that Apollos was the human author of the book of Hebrews.
32:14I don't know who wrote Hebrews.
32:16I know the spirit of God wrote it, but Martin Luther thought it was Apollos.
32:19It would fit.
32:20It was well, it was well versed in the scriptures.
32:22He could have done it.
32:23I don't know, but I never knew that.
32:26So what do we see today?
32:28What do we see?
32:28Number one, submit to God's will for your life.
32:31That's kind of an obvious one.
32:33Submit to God's will for your life.
32:35Let your life be guided by the phrase, if the Lord wills.
32:39Make plans, but be flexible enough to change your plans.
32:43If God closes a door, so submit to God's will.
32:46That's easy one to be an Aquila and Priscilla come alongside someone and help them grow in
32:53their faith.
32:53And you say, well, I don't really know that much.
32:55You probably know more than others come alongside them and help them grow up in their faith.
33:00Because by helping them grow up in the faith, they're going to, not only will you bless
33:04them, but that he's going to be, or they're going to be a blessing to other people.
33:07So come on.
33:08There's someone in this church today that needs you to come alongside them and help them
33:12grow up in their faith.
33:14So they know more.
33:15They're taught more accurately.
33:18So be an Aquila or Priscilla.
33:20Lastly, be an Apollos.
33:24Allow someone to help you grow in your faith.
33:26Don't take my attitude that I had, which was wrong.
33:28I can do this all on my own.
33:30Yes, faith is personal, but it is not private.
33:34It's personal, but not private.
33:36I allow someone to come into my life and help me grow up in the faith.
33:40You may be saying, hey, I need some.
33:42Ask them.
33:43Hey, could we just meet like maybe once a week or maybe once every two weeks?
33:48I got a lot of questions about the Bible, and I think that you may be able to answer
33:52them.
33:52Would you be willing to do that?
33:54Ask them.
33:56Something that we used years ago, haven't used it for a long time in our leadership meetings,
34:00is the word team.
34:02And I'm sure some of you have probably heard this before.
34:05Team, acronym.
34:07Together, everyone achieves more.
34:11We're a team.
34:13We're helping each other grow up in the faith so that we can be better witnesses for Jesus.
34:19Let's pray.
34:20Father, thank you.
34:21Thank you for Aquila and Priscilla.
34:23What a couple, just humble, willing to be used by you, and they bless this man, and
34:33by blessing him, he turns around and blesses others.
34:36Help us, Father, to learn that principle.
34:39When we pour our lives into other people and bless them, they turn around and they're a
34:43blessing to other people.
34:45And so thank you, Father, for that.
34:47And help us also to be humble enough to ask someone to help me grow in my faith.
34:51I don't have all the answers.
34:52I need to know.
34:53I want to learn.
34:54Help us to be humble enough to ask somebody, can you help me grow up in the faith?
34:59It's not about isolation, Father.
35:01It's about team.
35:02It's about us being together in this.
35:05So we thank you, Father.
35:06We pray in Jesus' name.
35:07Amen.
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