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In the bustling city of Ephesus, twelve devoted men stood convinced their lifelong religious practice had secured them before God, until one pointed question from the apostle Paul shattered everything they believed. What if thousands sitting in churches every Sunday carry the exact same unnoticed assumption about their spiritual safety? Let’s uncover the single overlooked truth that transforms partial knowledge into full assurance, along with the only response that guarantees you are truly safe in Christ.
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/make-sure
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/make-sure
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00USA Today published an article in February this year, February 19th, 2026.
00:07And in the article, they said that the warnings were clear and eerie.
00:14They had expected a forecast of up to eight feet of snow in California's Lake Tahoe region.
00:21And you know what happens when all that snow dumps really quickly on an area?
00:25The avalanches are a problem.
00:26I mean, because it doesn't sit well, and if it's anything loose underneath,
00:30that much snow at one time, an avalanche is a serious issue.
00:35In fact, one post read, big storm coming, avalanches could behave abnormally,
00:40and the hazard could last longer than normal.
00:43So the warnings were clear and eerie, yet a group of 11 people traveled up to a three-day trip
00:52that sadly would end in tragedy.
00:56They went up to a place called a pristine Alpine Lake called Frog Lake.
01:01And actually, it's just a few miles, let's see, northeast of the infamous donor party experience.
01:06Remember that one?
01:07In 18, was it 1847, the donor party?
01:10They weren't far away from that.
01:12And they stayed in a hard-to-reach place called Frog Lake in huts.
01:16I mean, it was probably very primitive.
01:18For two nights, for two nights.
01:21But on the third day of their trip, an avalanche broke through, crashed through all of the cabins,
01:28killing three guides and five guests, leaving one unaccounted for,
01:34and they're assuming that person is dead.
01:36They haven't found him yet.
01:39The warnings were strong.
01:40A guy named Kurt Gernsheimer, he spends a lot of time up in those mountains skiing and backpacking.
01:45And he said, we planned to leave before the storm came in.
01:48He knew how bad this was.
01:51Still, he called this fatal avalanche 100% preventable tragedy.
01:58In other words, it should have never happened.
02:02For some reason, in their mind, they thought they were safe after all of the warnings that came their way,
02:08that this snow was coming with avalanche possibilities.
02:11They still felt they were safe in Frog Lake.
02:17And traveled there anyway.
02:20And they paid for it with their lives.
02:26We're going to meet a group of men today that thought they were spiritually safe.
02:30That they were on good standing with God and everything was going really well in their relationship with God.
02:36But the truth is, they were not.
02:42How many people in our churches around America today think that they're safe in their spiritual relationship with God and
02:50are not?
02:56And sadly, they're going to pay for it with their internal soul.
03:03We've come to Acts chapter 19.
03:06Paul is making his way back to Ephesus after starting his third missionary journey.
03:11And what we're seeing in the text today is there is only one way for salvation.
03:16And if a person does not submit to it, their eternal soul is at stake.
03:24Why do humans think that they're safe with God when actually they stand in his wrath and eternal damnation?
03:38Paul's traveling back now to Ephesus.
03:40He's been, here's a graphic right here.
03:42He's been, he's been in Syria.
03:43That's the top right-hand corner there.
03:45He was in Antioch and he traveled then through Galatia, the churches of Galatia, strengthening the brothers.
03:51And he's on his way to Ephesus.
03:52Typically, there's a short trade route to take that everyone stays on the trade route.
03:58It's safe.
03:58It's a good road.
03:59Everyone stays on the trade route.
04:00But Paul, instead, he goes over land to the highlands, actually, the text says, and then drop down into Ephesus.
04:07And the only thing I can think of is he wanted to get to Ephesus faster than it could be
04:11taking the trade route.
04:13So he's dropping down into Ephesus, which would be in the area, the reddish, pinkish Asia right there.
04:20And that's where he's going to be at today in Ephesus.
04:23But he takes the high road down instead of the normal trade route.
04:28So if you look with me in verse number one, so open up your Bibles, Acts 19, verse number one.
04:32This is God's word.
04:33We want to look at it together.
04:35And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, remember, Apollos went to Corinth, and he was ministering there for
04:41a while.
04:42Paul passed through the inland or highland country and came to Ephesus.
04:47There he found some disciples.
04:50And he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
04:53And they said, no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
04:58And he said, into what then were you baptized?
05:01I mean, where do you stand?
05:03And they said, into John's baptism.
05:05So they have some understanding of God's movement and that time frame years ago in the life of John the
05:11Baptist and, of course, then in the Messiah.
05:13So they have some understanding.
05:14They understood John's baptism.
05:17And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was
05:25to come after him.
05:26That is Jesus.
05:27So they had heard about John the Baptist and they'd heard his teaching, pointing to the one that was going
05:32to come after him.
05:33But they didn't know anything about Jesus.
05:36They didn't know Jesus.
05:38On hearing this, in other words, then Paul goes into it, it doesn't say on hearing this.
05:42He simply, on hearing this, says he preached the gospel to them.
05:45He preached Jesus Christ to them.
05:49On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
05:53And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking in
05:58tongues, so known languages, but unknown to the speaker, and prophesying there were about 12 men in all.
06:06Nah, don't get hung up on the 12.
06:07I don't know why there are 12.
06:09My 12 tribes of Israel, a lot of people make speculations.
06:11It's just that there are 12 guys there.
06:16The first thing we were told is that they're disciples.
06:18And automatically, you would think, oh, a disciple is a follower of Jesus, right?
06:22Well, no, actually, a disciple means a learner or a follower, and it doesn't always apply to Christians in the
06:28New Testament.
06:30There's other designations.
06:31It's just simply a learner or a follower of somebody.
06:34It could be the disciples of the Pharisees and then the disciples of John here in Matthew chapter 9.
06:39Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do
06:45not?
06:45So we see two disciples, disciples of Jesus and disciples of John.
06:48So it simply means that they're learners or followers.
06:50It doesn't mean that they're Christians because they didn't know anything about Jesus.
06:53All they knew was John's baptism.
06:56As a matter of fact, we know that actually the disciples of John the Baptist hung around until the 2nd
07:02century.
07:02They were around a long time until they finally just disappeared, these disciples of John.
07:07They had not gone beyond the Baptist's teaching about a repentance and then forgiveness of sins through repentance.
07:15And the one coming, they had not gone beyond his message.
07:19They didn't know anything.
07:21See, John the Baptist spoke about the Holy Spirit in his preaching, but these men had not heard about the
07:26fulfilling of this prophecy.
07:28So he had preached about the Holy Spirit.
07:31In fact, in his preaching, he talked about, one's going to come after me and he's going to baptize you
07:35with the Spirit and with fire.
07:37In fact, that's recorded in Luke chapter 3.
07:40John answered them all saying, I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the
07:47strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.
07:50He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
07:53That was the message of John.
07:54So they didn't even know that.
07:56They didn't know that Jesus had already come, that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, rose again, ascended, sent
08:01the promised Holy Spirit down.
08:03They had none of this information.
08:04All they knew was John's baptism.
08:08Maybe just the ethical teaching of John the Baptist.
08:10I don't know, but they didn't know the one that was supposed to come after.
08:14They didn't know Jesus.
08:15They thought they were safe in their relationship with God, but in reality, they were under God's wrath, needing to
08:23be saved by the one who was to come after, Jesus.
08:27They didn't know about his death, Jesus' death, because they didn't know who Jesus was.
08:31They didn't know about his resurrection.
08:32They didn't know about Pentecost.
08:34And I'm thinking, Pentecost, it's hard to date it, but I'm thinking we're like at 15 or 20 years after
08:39Pentecost at this time.
08:41How come they didn't know about Pentecost?
08:42You would think news would have traveled around the empire about Pentecost, that event that took place.
08:46They didn't even know about Pentecost.
08:49John simply had a role to point people to the Messiah that was to come after.
08:54So he had his disciples.
08:56In fact, a lot of the disciples of Jesus were disciples of John the Baptist before.
09:00Andrew and Peter, we see in John's gospel.
09:03His job was to gather the people together, to point them to the Messiah.
09:08And then when the Messiah came, he was to take his group of disciples and hand them over to the
09:12Messiah that was to come.
09:15His was a preparatory ministry to prepare the people for the one that was to come, to hand them over
09:20to him.
09:23In our Wednesday study, we've been talking about Galatians, talking about the law and its purpose, what the purpose of
09:27the law is.
09:27I'm not going to go into that right now.
09:28You need to come on Wednesday and I'll tell you about that.
09:31But I did tell you, I did tell the group about a practice that I like to do when I'm
09:35doing a wedding.
09:36And that is, I asked the father of the bride, I said, when you bring her down the aisle and
09:41the groom is standing right there, I said, this is what I would like you to do.
09:44I'd like you to take your daughter's hand and place it in the hand of the groom, showing a transfer.
09:50Now your responsibility as her father is over, you're giving the responsibility to the husband.
09:56It's a transfer, it's moving it over.
09:58Now you're our responsible.
10:00And some of the dads go, yeah, it's about time.
10:04But here's the picture.
10:05That was the purpose of John the Baptist, was when the Messiah came, he was to take all of his
10:10disciples and hand them over to the Messiah, because he's the one that they was pointing to.
10:16John the Baptist says, he must increase and I must decrease.
10:20That was his role.
10:22He didn't know about this Jesus.
10:24They were like the Old Testament people who were still looking for the Messiah.
10:32See, the problem these men faced was not their baptism.
10:35That was, it was old.
10:35John the Baptist was fine.
10:37There's nothing wrong with that.
10:38But they did not recognize Jesus as the one John pointed to.
10:41They didn't know.
10:43They thought they were safe with God with just the baptism of John.
10:45And they thought they were doing really good.
10:47God's face is shining down upon them.
10:49But Paul says, you're lacking something.
10:52Your lives are in peril right now.
10:55If you don't hear the message of Jesus, the message that John even said in John chapter one, John said,
11:00the next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the lamb of God who takes away the
11:05sin of the world.
11:07That's the message that you need to hear.
11:09He's the one.
11:13They didn't know Jesus, the promised Messiah.
11:19These men had been baptized and they were trying to be religious.
11:23But they were not saved.
11:27Think about that for a second.
11:30Millions of people today in the world gather together in Christian churches being religious.
11:36Some have been baptized.
11:38They've been through catechism and they're sitting in the pew or the chair thinking that they're absolutely safe with God.
11:46In reality, they are not saved.
11:51I hope I, you know, one day when I stand before God, I don't ever want to look out and
11:56think that somebody who listened to the whole time I preached died and went, spent eternity in the lake of
12:03fire.
12:06Lost.
12:06Lost.
12:08Religious.
12:10Planning that through my works or through my baptism, through my catechism, I'm okay with God.
12:15I'm safe.
12:16I'm okay.
12:16I'm safe.
12:17No, you are lost without Jesus Christ.
12:22You need the Messiah.
12:24And he says for us to repent today and believe the gospel message and we will be saved.
12:31I don't ever want you to think, I'm safe because I've been baptized and I'm safe because I come to
12:37church every Sunday.
12:38I don't miss a Sunday.
12:39You can look at my record.
12:40I've been here every Sunday.
12:41I've been through catechism.
12:43I'm safe.
12:43If you do not know Jesus Christ, you are lost and you need to know him.
12:50Please do not enter into eternity without him.
12:58So the point of the contrast between John and Jesus was not water baptism because of repentance and the baptism
13:05of the Holy Spirit and new life.
13:06That wasn't really the contrast.
13:09See, Warren Wearsby, the pastor and writer, says,
13:12Paul explained to them that John's baptism was a baptism of repentance that looked forward to the coming of the
13:18promised Messiah.
13:19While Christian baptism, baptized in the name of Christ, is a baptism that looks back to the finished work of
13:24Christ on the cross and his victorious resurrection.
13:27They didn't know that part.
13:29All they knew was John's baptism pointing them towards someone that was to come.
13:33And they didn't know that one and they were not safe.
13:37So Paul preaches them.
13:39He preaches to them on hearing this.
13:42He preaches to them.
13:43And they believed and they were baptized in the name of Jesus.
13:46Now they're safe in Jesus's arms.
13:51And then it says, notice he didn't give them instructions on how to receive the Holy Spirit.
13:56Okay, now this is how you receive the Holy Spirit.
13:57He didn't go into that at all, but on how to receive Christ.
14:01Because he asked him, have you received the Spirit since you believe?
14:03And they said, we don't even know about the Spirit.
14:05So he didn't even talk about the Spirit.
14:06He talked about Jesus.
14:09Actually, this is the only instance in the New Testament where someone is re-baptized.
14:13You don't ever see it, but here they're re-baptized.
14:16Actually, technically, all the disciples of John who went over to Jesus were re-baptized too.
14:20But here's the only one we see.
14:25I don't know how they didn't hear about Pentecost.
14:28I still don't know that.
14:29That was such a long time ago when we look at the record here.
14:32Why they didn't know the Spirit had come, I don't know.
14:35But they didn't.
14:36They had never heard of Pentecost.
14:39Actually, in a sense, they experienced a mini-Pentecost here.
14:44Or you could say that Pentecost finally caught up to them.
14:46Either one you want to look at like that.
14:49So Luke records now this visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
14:54This visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
14:56To give his readers assurance that these converts really now belong to the Lord.
15:01They're really saved.
15:02They're really saved.
15:05So we have to understand that every believer has the Holy Spirit at salvation.
15:10The nanosecond when one believes, you have the Holy Spirit of God when you become a believer.
15:15The nanosecond you believe.
15:16And you say, well, how do you know that, Pastor Mark?
15:18Well, Paul told us.
15:20Ephesians chapter 1.
15:22He said,
15:35That word believed is written in a way that it happened in the past tense at a nanosecond of time.
15:41The nanosecond you believed in Jesus Christ, what does it say?
15:45You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.
15:47The nanosecond you believed.
15:50Who?
15:51Spirit is a guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory.
15:58We all have the Holy Spirit.
16:00In fact, Teresa skipped over.
16:01I mean, I skipped over.
16:02She had to go fast over.
16:03Sorry, Teresa.
16:05Romans 8, 9.
16:06Maybe you can back up to that.
16:08You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
16:11If, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you.
16:14Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
16:18Every believer has a Holy Spirit.
16:20We all do.
16:22In fact, nowhere in the New Testament are any believers commanded,
16:27commanded to be baptized in the Holy Spirit,
16:29commanded to be sealed.
16:30In other words, what they're to do.
16:32In every instance of baptism of the Holy Spirit,
16:35sealed with the Holy Spirit,
16:36and dwelt by the Holy Spirit are all passive verbs,
16:39which means it's being done to us by God.
16:43We don't do it.
16:44God does it.
16:45He baptizes us by the Spirit,
16:47by placing us into the body of Christ.
16:49We become His.
16:50He seals us with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption.
16:53He's our inheritance that's come,
16:55and He indwells every believer
16:57so that we have the wisdom of God living inside of us,
17:00the power to live out our sanctification day by day.
17:02That means looking more like Jesus all the time.
17:05That is what's God's work in us.
17:08He does that.
17:10He's the one that works that in us.
17:13Johnny Draper said,
17:14this means you don't get a piece of Spirit baptism
17:17when you get saved and more later.
17:19You get a piece of the Spirit now,
17:20and then you get more later.
17:21No, he says, no.
17:23God does not baptize on an installment plan.
17:28All of the Holy Spirit you are ever going to get as a believer,
17:31you got when Jesus baptized you by means of the Holy Spirit
17:34into His body at your salvation.
17:36The question is not how much of the Holy Spirit do you have.
17:39The question is how much of you does the Holy Spirit have
17:42is a better question.
17:45So He lays hands on them.
17:47Doesn't happen in all the places in Acts,
17:49but in this case He does.
17:50The Samaritans, they came down and laid hands on the Samaritans too.
17:52Doesn't always happen, but here He does.
17:55Laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit
17:57happened with the Samaritans.
17:59Now the Samaritans, they never spoke in unknown tongues,
18:01unknown languages to them.
18:03They never did that in Samaria.
18:04Here they do.
18:07See, the laying on of hands signified their inclusion into the church.
18:12You are part of the church by faith in Jesus Christ.
18:15Like the other instances in the book of Acts,
18:17saying that, yeah, these people are part of the,
18:19they're believers in Jesus.
18:21They're part of the church.
18:23Acts 8 is Samaria.
18:25Now when the apostles of Jerusalem heard that Samaria
18:28had received the word of God,
18:29they sent to them Peter and John.
18:31Remember the Samaritans, Jews and Samaritans' best buddies?
18:35No, not at all.
18:37In fact, Jews didn't like Samaritans, we are told in Luke's gospel.
18:44Heard that Samaria had received the word of God.
18:46Those Samaritans?
18:48And they were, and they sent to them Peter and John,
18:51who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
18:54For he had not yet fallen on any of them,
18:56but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
19:00Then he laid his hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
19:02And there's no mention of them speaking in unknown languages at this point.
19:07In fact, Luke records speaking in unknown languages after receiving the Holy Spirit
19:11only three times in the whole Acts of the Apostles.
19:14Only three times.
19:15He only mentions it three times.
19:17First, to the Jewish believers at Pentecost.
19:20They spoke in unknown languages.
19:22Now I have Cornelius.
19:24Remember Cornelius, the Gentile?
19:26Peter's preaching to them.
19:27Before he even gets done preaching, the Holy Spirit falls on them.
19:30Before the baptism, no laying on hands.
19:32The Spirit just comes down upon them.
19:34They're included by faith.
19:36And then here we have these Old Testament Jewish disciples of John the Baptist.
19:41And all of this is to show that these particular groups
19:43are being incorporated into Christ.
19:46That's why it doesn't happen all the time in the book of Acts.
19:48Happens three times in the book of Acts.
19:52Robert Utley said,
19:53Usually in Acts, tongues are evidence for the believing Jewish proclaimers.
19:57In other words, Jews proclaiming that God has accepted a new group
20:01or broken down a geographical barrier.
20:04In the book of Acts.
20:05He does a little more teaching on it in Corinth, of course.
20:08But in Acts, this is what Luke shows us.
20:11And this is the last instance of speaking in unknown languages in the book of Acts.
20:14It doesn't happen again.
20:15All the way to chapter 28.
20:18So now Luke moves to Paul's extended ministry in Ephesus.
20:23He's going to, he's back to Ephesus now.
20:24He's there and he's going to,
20:25he's going to stay there for an extended period of time.
20:28A lot of time.
20:29In fact, we will get to part of it next week
20:31and it'll take us a few weeks to get probably through the rest of chapter 19.
20:35So now we're introduced to the disciples of Christ here
20:38in verses 8 through 10.
20:40And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly,
20:45reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
20:49Interesting.
20:49Didn't even say about Jesus,
20:51but obviously the kingdom of God talks about the king,
20:54what the king did,
20:56how one gets into the kingdom.
20:57I mean, so the kingdom of God is a broad topic, obviously.
21:01Persuading them about the kingdom of God.
21:03These are all Jews,
21:04fully understand what the kingdom of God was.
21:06But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief,
21:10speaking evil of the way,
21:12that's Christians before the congregation,
21:14before the synagogue,
21:15he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him,
21:19reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
21:22This continued for two years.
21:24That's a long time,
21:25but longer than Corinth.
21:26So that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord,
21:31both Jews and Greeks.
21:34So now we see the disciples of Christ and to preach three months in the synagogue
21:38without a riot was a record for Paul.
21:42Seriously,
21:42you've seen as many times he gets there,
21:44he's a couple of weeks at the most,
21:46and then they're ready to kick him out.
21:48They're ready to just dump on him.
21:51He said the last time he was in Ephesus,
21:53in fact,
21:53they wanted him to stay and he said,
21:55I can't,
21:56I got to go back to Jerusalem.
21:57I've got to take my hair that I've shaved and my vow.
22:00And I got to go back to Jerusalem.
22:00I want to get on the water on the seas before the winter.
22:03It comes in because it's too rough to travel in winter.
22:05So he left them saying,
22:06if the Lord wills,
22:07I will come back.
22:08So the Lord is willing and they're back.
22:11In fact,
22:11we see that in Acts 18,
22:14but on taking leave of them,
22:15he said,
22:16I will return to you if God will.
22:18So God willed it.
22:19And he's back now in Ephesus and he set sail from Ephesus.
22:23So it's likely since he left them and coming back was about a year,
22:29a full year had taken place.
22:31We don't see that in the Bible.
22:32It's hard to,
22:33it's hard to put chronological chronological time in the Bible,
22:35but probably a full year had transpired since he was gone.
22:40So he's preaching to them about the kingdom of God.
22:43And that was,
22:43that was the central message of Jesus's preaching.
22:46Wasn't it?
22:47You look at the parables he talked about in Matthew 13,
22:49all of them relate to the kingdom of God in one way or another.
22:52And that's what he preached.
22:53He preached the kingdom of God.
22:54That was Jesus's message as well.
22:56We see that in Matthew chapter four,
22:58verse 17.
22:59From that time,
23:00Jesus began to preach saying,
23:02repent for the kingdom of heaven.
23:04Kingdom of God,
23:05synonymous is at hand.
23:07Repent and believe the gospel.
23:11The kingdom of God is anywhere.
23:13God is king.
23:15If you're a believer today,
23:17he's king of your heart.
23:18You're part of his kingdom today.
23:20Yes,
23:21the kingdom is now,
23:22but it is not yet.
23:24For one day,
23:25the Lord Jesus will return and sit on the throne of his father,
23:29King David in Jerusalem,
23:30reigning over the entire earth.
23:35We'll see the kingdom finally come.
23:37What did he teach us to pray?
23:39Hallowed be your name,
23:40your kingdom come,
23:41your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
23:47One day.
23:50So the text says he spent two years there.
23:52He tells us later that there was two years in a row and there was a total time of about
23:57three years.
23:58He stayed in Ephesus and acts 20.
24:00When he's talking to the Ephesian elders,
24:02he says this,
24:02therefore be alert,
24:04remembering that for three years,
24:06I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.
24:10So he spent about three years in Ephesus total time,
24:13two years,
24:13and then some extra time around there in Ephesus.
24:16And he spoke boldly.
24:18I mean,
24:18he kept speaking boldly.
24:20They would contradict them.
24:21They would make fun of him.
24:22They become what to say,
24:23stubborn and disbelief,
24:25unbelief.
24:25And he kept speaking boldly.
24:27He wanted to tell them,
24:29you're not safe without Jesus.
24:31You need Jesus.
24:32I don't care how religious you are.
24:34I don't care if you think you follow the law of Moses.
24:36You need Jesus.
24:39Preaches boldly to them.
24:41Boldly about the kingdom of God.
24:42And then of course,
24:43you have the Paul derangement syndrome kicks in.
24:47Some don't like him.
24:49Some like him.
24:50He ends up going to the hall of Tyrannus,
24:52which is a lecture hall.
24:54Probably Tyrannus was the leader of the lecture hall.
24:56He may have just owned it,
24:57but likely he was a leader.
24:59We don't know anything about this guy.
25:01All we know is what his name means.
25:02His name means tyrant or despot.
25:06Which parent is going to name their child that?
25:09I don't know.
25:10I'm thinking maybe his students named him that at the hall,
25:13right?
25:13The lecture hall.
25:14His students call him a tyrant and a despot.
25:16That's possible.
25:17Who would we want to know as Tyrannus?
25:21While Paul was at Ephesus,
25:23I like that we've been going through this
25:25and I see how everything pieces together now.
25:28And I see things I never saw before.
25:31When Paul was at Ephesus,
25:33he likely visited Corinth while he was at Ephesus.
25:35Not too far away.
25:37He likely visits Corinth for a period of time.
25:39And from Ephesus,
25:40he writes 1 Corinthians to them.
25:44That all fits together.
25:48He said,
25:50the wide door for effective work
25:53was opened in Ephesus for him.
25:56And he told us about it in 1 Corinthians.
25:57Remember,
25:58he's writing from Ephesus to Corinth.
26:02And in 1 Corinthians 16,
26:03he says this,
26:04but I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost.
26:08Why?
26:08For a wide door for effective work has opened to me.
26:13And there are many adversaries.
26:14Yes,
26:15there are many adversaries.
26:15There's going to be a huge riot in Ephesus because of him.
26:21He took opportunity through this door that opened.
26:25And he says,
26:25I see the opportunity for effective ministry.
26:29I cannot but go through that door and do it.
26:32So he goes.
26:35And then it ends with saying,
26:36this continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of
26:41the Lord,
26:41both Jews and Gentiles.
26:42This is what's known as hyperbole.
26:44It's a figure of speech.
26:46It's simply to emphasize,
26:48to exaggerate something,
26:49to emphasize the point that so many people heard it,
26:52heard the gospel message in Asia.
26:53It's hyperbole.
26:55So many people heard the gospel.
26:56And you can't even count all the people that heard the gospel message.
27:02So what do we learn from this text today?
27:06The most important one,
27:08and I cannot emphasize it more strongly than this.
27:11Make sure you are safe in Christ.
27:19Your eternal soul is at stake.
27:23It's not about your baptism.
27:24It's not about your catechism.
27:26It's not about attending church.
27:27It's not about having a scale that says,
27:29I've got all of these good works,
27:31and I'm going to put it on this side of the scale,
27:32all my bad works on this side of the scale,
27:34and then my good works are going to outweigh my bad works,
27:36and then God's going to love me and bring me into his kingdom.
27:39No.
27:40It is not what we do for him.
27:42It is what he did for us on the cross.
27:47And I still want to know,
27:48if you think good works save you,
27:50how many?
27:51Quantify it for me.
27:5347,000?
27:5447 million?
27:55Tell me how many it is.
27:59Are you safe today in Christ?
28:02Are you saved?
28:04If not, repent.
28:05Believe the gospel message today.
28:07Please do not leave this building without knowing you are safe in Jesus Christ.
28:13In Romans 10, Paul says this,
28:15Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
28:18and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
28:21you will be saved.
28:23Saved from what?
28:23Saved from the wrath of God.
28:26Saved from eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
28:29You will be saved.
28:30You will be delivered.
28:32For with the heart one believes and is justified,
28:35and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
28:38So let me ask you, are you saved today?
28:43Where is your hope?
28:44Are you believing in Jesus Christ alone for salvation?
28:47Or have you added baptism and catechism and religious practices,
28:50thinking that you'll be safe with God?
28:52You will not be safe with God outside of Jesus Christ.
28:59That one was a heavy one.
29:00Second one is this.
29:02When God opens a door for ministry,
29:05do not hesitate to enter it.
29:08When he opens a door, don't hesitate to enter in.
29:11Paul said there's a wide open door of effective ministry from here at Ephesus.
29:16I'm going to stay for a while longer.
29:18When God opens a door for ministry,
29:20do not hesitate to enter in.
29:21And let me ask you,
29:22what is stopping you today from moving forward,
29:24entering into what God has opened up for you?
29:26What is stopping you today?
29:31We're going to come to the Lord's table here after one song.
29:35And it's to remind us exactly what Christ did for us on the cross.
29:40I'm sure Paul preached Jesus crucified,
29:42buried and risen again when he preached to them.
29:45That's what we get to celebrate today,
29:47is that he died for our sins according to the scriptures,
29:50that he was buried,
29:51that he rose the third day according to the scriptures.
29:53He ascended to the Father.
29:55He sent down the promise of the Holy Spirit.
29:56And he tells us he's coming back again.
30:01He's going to set up his kingdom.
30:04And he's going to bring us,
30:06his people back with him.
30:09And somehow he's going to let us be part of the whole administration of his
30:12kingdom on earth.
30:13I'm not sure how it all works,
30:15but I know it's going to be great.
30:17Are you saved today?
30:20Are you saved?
30:21Let's pray.
30:21Father,
30:22thank you for the text.
30:23And I'm thankful that Paul found these 12 men and was able to point to them,
30:30to the cross,
30:30to Jesus Christ.
30:31And they believed and were saved.
30:34And the evidence that they were saved,
30:36you demonstrated that they were included into your church by,
30:39by the,
30:40by the visible manifestation of your spirit.
30:43These old Testament Jewish followers of John the Baptist are brought into the
30:47church through faith in Jesus Christ.
30:49Thank you,
30:49father for that message.
30:51It's not through any other way.
30:53We enter into the,
30:54to your,
30:54to your church,
30:56to your body,
30:57but by faith,
30:58it's by grace.
31:00So we thank you,
31:01father.
31:03Thank you for this message.
31:04We want to be messengers with this message in medical Lake.
31:08We want to tell other people about Jesus.
31:12Please give us the boldness like Paul who spoke boldly,
31:15no matter what people said to him,
31:16however,
31:17they ridiculed him.
31:18He continued to speak boldly about Jesus,
31:21about the kingdom of God.
31:23Give us that boldness too,
31:25please.
31:25Father pray in Jesus name.
31:27Amen.
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