Sermon Transcript

I will be reading Acts Chapter 19 versus one through 10. Acts 19:1-10: 

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Blessed is the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, historical, instructive and sanctifying word to our hearts and our minds. Oh, Lord, you have won for us who believe, like we see in this passage today, you've won the victory, conquered our sin and guilt before the holy God. You have won us, bought us, and brought us to yourself and any in here who have not come like that, you can bring him. Allow your word to penetrate and work to the glory of your holy name in saving and then sanctifying to the glory of your holy name. Amen. 

What we have here in this passage this morning is Christianity. In a nutshell, three major things that we will see. First is evangelism, which means the gospel going to the unsaved, getting the gospel right. Second thing we see in this passage is the work of the Holy Spirit, along with evangelism or the preached gospel as He creates Christians through it. The third thing that we see is the ongoing need of teaching for the saints, of doctrine, of training, of growing in the Lord, which produces then more evangelism. 

So remember our context: The Apostle Paul had left Corinth, and he had a layover there in Ephesus. He goes to the synagogue, he reasons with them for a little bit, a day or two, they said, “Stay with us.” He says, “No, I'm not going to. I gotta get out of here. But God willing, I will return and come back.” And so we see this morning, about a year later, he returns to Ephesus and he enters this large city of about 200,000 people. Ephesus was known for its playing around with the magic arts, and it had one of the seven wonders of the world at that time. The temple of Artemis, the female goddess, one of the daughters of Zeus, the virgin goddess. It was actually the largest building in the world at that time. It was a football field long. And so it was into this city now that we see that the gospel again comes here with the Apostle Paul and it powerfully transformed the lives of many. The church that we see in our passage then is soundly established over the next 2 to 3 years so that Luke tells us down in verse 20 (Acts 19:20): “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” 

So when Paul now a year later re-enters the city, don't know where or how that happened. He runs into what looks like about 12 religious Jewish men. Luke calls them “disciples”, probably meaning disciples of John the Baptist. It seems that these men either lived or visited Judea about 20 to 25 years before this. They heard John the Baptist preaching, and they were baptized by John the Baptist while they were there. They listened to what he had to say, and then after their baptism, they moved or went back home. We don't know which to Ephesus. They knew nothing or very little about the ministry and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Because evidently they had left Judea long before his popularity came about. They were baptized by John. They repented. They believed in the Messiah with John preached. Yes, prepare the way. And so here they are. And so is Paul. Now, somehow he's having a conversation with them. Luke is summarizing. We don't know if he's talking for an hour at this time, but he gives us the gist of what happened. And evidently Paul starts to sense something isn't quite right here. It's a little off. And so he asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” 

So let's look at the way Luke paints the picture in his summary in verses 1-4 (Acts 19:1-4): 

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth [remember, he goes to Corinth. He wants to preach there. Now he's gone from Ephesus. Paul comes into town], Paul passed through the inland country [through the back country in his missionary journey] and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”  

Now first, when they said, “we don't even know anything about this holy spirit that you're talking about.” It doesn't mean they don't know the existence of the Holy Spirit. They listened to John preach, who preached about the Holy Spirit. It means this: they did not know about the day of Pentecost. They didn't know that the Holy Spirit had been poured out by the Promised Messiah that John preached. They didn't know about Jesus's life and his substitutionary death on a cross and his resurrection from the dead and thus the outpouring. They knew of the Holy Spirit. Luke himself tells us in his first writing, the gospel of Luke about it here, talking about John the Baptist in Chapter three of Luke. And this is the kind of stuff that these men heard (Luke 3:15-16): “As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” 

So that's the preaching these men heard. They knew of the promised Holy Spirit, but not that he was already actually poured out. So Paul said to them, “Oh, no, see John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who is to come after him” (and that is Jesus). And Paul goes on talking. It's not all that he said. He preached the Gospel to them, told them how Jesus is the Son of David and fulfilled Isaiah 53, that he was the (as John himself said), the Lamb of God. He was the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins, and God raised him from the dead. And His apostles are eyewitnesses and many, many other of his disciples were eyewitnesses of this. And after 40 days of eating with them and teaching them, he finally ascended on high as King, the Son of David. Okay, that's the kind of stuff Paul’s preaching to them. And as he does, their eyes are wide open. They believed, and so they were baptized in the name of Jesus as their public confession of faith in him. As verse 5 says (Acts 19:5): “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Alright, so now let's think a little bit about evangelism from this passage. These men, according to the text, had faith. They had some kind of faith or belief. Paul said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they believe something, which shows us that what people believe or what they don't believe - that's huge. And the history of the church has shown us that many church-going people, like these religious men here, need to be evangelized. These men believe the message of John the Baptist, but they did not believe in the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus and his resurrection, because they didn't know about it. They were not clearly disciples of Jesus. 

Now in a church-cultured society, which has been the history of the West, you know, since the last 1700 years, even though we're in a post-Christian era, there’s still a whole lot of it around. There are many, many persons in churches who believe in God and even have a faith in the Lord Jesus in some kind of a general way. “Yes, he's there for me. I hear that message. He's got a purpose for my life. And that sounds good. I want to grow up a little bit. I got a family. I got kids. I want them with some good morals in a W.W.J.D. kind of way. Jesus is a great model. I want to live a better life…” But they're not truly saved. I mean, if you asked them. “Are you a Christian?” And then this is one of those keys. Sometimes, if you ask, “Are you a Christian?” (in a context of a church or something), those kinds of persons get kind of offended, where real Christians don't (“Yes, I’m a Christian, let me tell you about it. How much I love Jesus.”). But they would say, “Of course I am. I mean, I’m not an atheist or a Buddhist or Muslim. Of course I’m a Christian.” 

So like Paul, many times we who are believers are talking with a family member, or a friend or colleague at work, or in a church. You sort of pick up on a vibe. Something’s not quite right here. And Paul seems to sense that kind of thing, that there's no spiritual life in these men. And so maybe, as Paul's talking to them and even going to the Scriptures about the Messiah, what he sees in their eyes or a blank look, or the conversation, it’s just like, they’re not getting this. You remember what Paul wrote in first Corinthians Chapter two (1 Cor. 2:14): “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” So they just didn't seem to Paul to be changed, to be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. And that led Paul to ask them the question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” In other words, have you had that experience of the Holy Spirit coming upon you? What is it that you believe? 

So let me just pause for a moment and say, that kind of probing question is good. And that's why in Bob's evangelism table, (which he's always happy to bring people along and learn how to do it and watch how to do it), as they go to El Camino College students, it's kind of a safe way to do evangelism. Because actually, what happens as they set up the table, students come up to them and ask them, “Yes, ask me those questions.” And those 1st 3 questions, (like the probing question of Paul), the 1st 3 questions they ask do essentially the same kind of thing. To probe,  (where is that person?) as you're doing evangelism. So they ask, “Do you have any spiritual beliefs?” And you listen. Secondly, “who is Jesus Christ to you?” And you listen. Thirdly, “Do you believe in heaven and hell and where would you go when you die?” And maybe, “Oh, heaven.” Why? Then you listen, because their answers are very revealing, much like the answers the 12 men gave to Paul. 

True Christians, they know the core of the gospel. They know that they are undeserving sinners, and they love the grace of the cross of Jesus. Their answers, when you ask these questions to people out there, show what they're thinking, what they're trusting in. Their answers reveal whether they grasp the gospel and love the Lord Jesus, and believe it or not. And you can hear, many people will say, “Of course, I believe.” But any trust in their own good works and goodness coupled with whatever religion they’re raised in that had the cross on it. Coupled with that, it reveals that person does not grasp the gospel of Jesus. Those who believe the gospel like these 12 men came to do, they show the signs of the work of the Holy Spirit, which eventually shows, “yes, I am a sinner. I feel the doom. What great news I'm hearing about the savior, Jesus dying for my sins. O how I love Jesus.” There's evangelism. There's the gospel that we see with Paul and the 12 men. “Yes, baptize us, Paul!” Absolutely. 

And that same gospel of evangelism, we see also in our passage, it draws a line in the sand that divides people. We see this as Paul then, according to Luke, goes into the synagogue. And he goes again and again and again and again and again and again and again for three months. Reasoning, teaching, fielding questions proclaiming the gospel. Look at verses 8-9 (Acts 19:8-9): “And he [Paul] entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, [In other words, he wasn't seeker sensitive (“Let me see if I can come through the back door.”). That's not how Paul did evangelism. He was just honest. He was clear. He was bold.] “reasoning and persuading them about the Kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the way before the [synagogue] congregation [and got too divisive], Paul withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.” 

So there's Paul. He taught, he responded, opened scripture again and again, showing that the Messiah had to suffer and die and rise. And that's exactly who Jesus is and what he did. He taught them about the kingdom of God. You can enter it now. As Paul said (Cf. Rom. 14:17), the kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness. Before God, you could be righteous. It's a matter of peace with God. He could be at peace with you through this kingdom of Jesus Christ. It’s a matter of joy in the Holy Spirit. Paul in the synagogue is making clear to his fellow religious Jews, who were still trusting in their own works, that none of their works merit anything toward salvation. But only trust in Jesus alone saves you from wrath, from your sin. And that same message right there in the synagogue of Ephesus and throughout the centuries is often opposed by the most religious and precisely because they take pride in their religiosity, like the unbelieving Jews here, or like the Roman church hierarchy in the 1500’s, when the biblical Gospel was being recovered. The human being (that’s every one of us, the way we're born into this world in sin), every human being because of our sin gets offended when we're told the truth that we are sinners. Really bad sinners who thus deserve God's wrath and not a welcome. We get offended, but it's the gospel. Paul said it clearly in Romans 3, didn't he? “All” - now that's pretty comprehensive, and he means there, every Jew and every non-Jew. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). And then he goes into the gospel (Rom. 3:24). And thus, as sinners, we are justified before God. In other words, forgiven of our sins and viewed as righteous as his eternal son, the Lord Jesus. We’re "justified, by His Grace as a gift.” You can't earn it, can't deserve it. It comes, he says, “through the redemption, [the price paid by Jesus the Messiah] through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” That message saves people, and it angers people. So finally, after three months of evangelism in the synagogue, Paul had to finally pull the new Christians out from the synagogue and set up shop elsewhere, rented a building, taught throughout the week, every day. The message of the gospel in evangelism divides. 

And that brings us to that second main reality we see in our passage. And that is the work of the Holy Spirit, with the preached gospel, is creating Christians, verses 5 to 7 (Acts 19:5-7): “On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.” Every person who has come to saving faith in Jesus has the Holy Spirit in them. And that's why, in a culture that has historically been Christianized, you can run into a lot of people who say they're Christians, and you get a vibe, if you're a true Christian in discussion, you get a vibe: something isn't quite right. What's missing? The Holy Spirit. See, Paul put it this way, in Romans 8 (Rom 8:9): “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” That's the Holy Spirit, meaning Christ who sends the Spirit. (Rom. 8:14): “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” And he says to the church (Rom. 8:15): “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” And a few years later, Paul writes to the Ephesians these words in Ephesians 1 (Eph. 1:13-14): “In him you also, when you heard [Think about the 12] the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it” [what was promised in the resurrection]. So if one has not received the Holy Spirit, then they are not saved. 

Now, briefly, what's happening here? What's happening here with the Holy Spirit coming upon them when Paul lays his hands on them and they, Luke says, “began speaking in tongues and prophesying”? Well, I hope it doesn't disappoint you, but just briefly, here's my shot at it. Remember Luke, the author, the structure of the narrative that he's writing of the early church, he set it up in his table of contents back in chapter one, through the words of Jesus himself. When Jesus said to the apostles, “John baptized with water. But you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” And then we have seen, as Luke unfolds the story of the early church, he brings out here and there, these significant manifestations that are visible to the apostles who were at every one of these occasions. This is the 1st one that Paul is at. So we saw in Chapter two on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falls in this manifestation that is visible in speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then in Chapter eight to the non-Jews, the half-Jews, the hated Samaritans again bring the apostles down and the Holy Spirit falls and they see the manifestations clearly talking about tongues. And then we saw in Chapter 10 with total Gentiles, not half-Jews, while Peter's preaching the Holy Spirit falls. And they start speaking in tongues, evidence to Peter again of the outpouring of the spirit to the different groups. 

And so, what's going on here? Why does he choose to say this? And let's just pause for a moment. We know that across the Aegean Sea, Paul's already been over there for a year and a half at least in Corinth. We know they're speaking in tongues, right? Because of what he writes while he's in Ephesus to them. But Luke has a purpose, and when he's gonna put stuff in. So here, Luke, this happened, and then Luke just drives the point home. And this is, I think, Okay, we're way out here now, very East Asia, we’re to the ends of the earth. And the whole point is that this gospel is for every group, every group around the world. Okay, the New Testament, it's clear though, that those who have come to personally know Christ, they are changed. They're different than they were. They’re different than those who still walk in darkness, that is, those who remain without the indwelling Holy Spirit. These Holy Spirit-changed people here, there and in this room are still sinners. But something significant is different. They see. They see the beauty of the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They see it by the eye-opening work of the Holy Spirit. The eternal Son of the Father, who became a human being for us and for our salvation and forever his very spirit of love for the Father is placed into our hearts. That’s why we cry, “Daddy, Father,” only in portion here, because every one of us remain sinners. It is that Holy Spirit, life changing work that thrusts the new Christian into something they were not in before. A battle. A battle with our own remaining sinful desires and inclinations. And that is why the Apostle Paul throughout his ministry tells us who believe, “Walk out your daily lives by the power of the Spirit who dwells in you. Be being filled with the spirit.” Why? “So that you do not live unrepentantly. You don't live and walk according to your fleshly desires, your worldly, sinful nature.” That's the Christian life. 

And so you see the genuineness of true Christians’ relationships with Jesus by the Holy Spirit. You see it because of there struggle, their hatred of their sin, their constant yearning to go to the throne, their repentance, verbally and in their heart, constantly falling upon the mercy of the Lord, and joyfully doing so because the Holy Spirit dwells in them. That's the Christian life. But sadly, there are many who profess to believe in Jesus, but their ongoing lifestyles, their patterns of unrepentance and a lack of love for Jesus, that would cause the Apostle Paul to ask, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And that probing question is an ongoing self-examining test for all of us baptized Christians. That's what Paul says to the baptized Christians over in Corinth, in 2 Cor. 13:5: “Examine yourselves in order to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is you? [He means the spirit there. That's how he's in you] Unless indeed you fail to meet the test.” 

This then brings us to the crucial third aspect of this passage. The crucial aspect of now those who were evangelized and the spirit comes within them and they are born again, it leads to this: the ongoing need of teaching, doctrine, training and growing in the Lord. Acts 19:9-10: withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia [not of Ephesus but of Asia] heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” That's the ongoing equipping of the Christians that Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4 when he said (Eph. 4:12-14), “Shepherds, teachers equip the Christians, the saints, for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God [why?], so that we may no longer be children who are just tossed to and fro by waves, [in other words, meaning peoples’ dumb stuff they say about reality and Christ. In other words, bad doctrine] by cunning and by craftiness and deceitful schemes.” But we see here believers, they grow. “I'm a Christian and I'm good, see you in Heaven” - that's not how it works. They mature. They develop, by the word, and then they reproduce through evangelism. 

Look at verse 10 again (Acts 19:10): “This continued for two years so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” Now that's that's what you call a summary. What Luke is really saying is that all those cities in Asia had churches planted in them during this time. Luke is telling us here about Paul's strategy of teaching and equipping and then ultimately in order that co-workers be raised up and they go into the surrounding towns and cities hundreds of miles around there (if you look at your Bible map of Asia), to preach the Gospel and to plant churches. That's what happened. So we know, for instance, numbers of these names. But here's a name that we know that was hanging out with Paul, learning all the time in the school hall of Tyrannus: Epaphras. He went to a city (he probably didn't go alone, but others went with him), called Colossae in Asia and Laodice and Hierapolis. Paul writes, (remember when he writes to the Colossians in the book of Colossians, Paul did not personally plant that church), this is what he writes to the church in Chapter one verses 6 to 7 (Col 1:6-7): “since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant.” This is how the other churches that if you did not have the Book of Revelation, you would never even see the names of. Four of those churches that Jesus writes a personal letter to each one in Revelation 2 and 3 like Ephesus, and Pergamum, and Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea, these are all churches in Asia. 

Paul withdrew the disciples out and said, “We're done with that now.” Now Gentiles and Jews together, he's teaching daily for hours for two years. And the result at the end was that all the residents of the whole region of Asia heard the word of the Lord, Jews and non-Jews. For two whole years, every day for hours. There's a textural variant that makes a lot of scholars think Paul was literally teaching for four hours every day during the siesta time. You know, Europe still does this. Spain and France get off work, now go take a nap and come back to work later. Maybe that's how they did it. Paul would teach and teach for hours, the believers mainly. Why? Because he knew how crucial, growing spiritually through the word and teaching was. And because the truth. There's a way in which Paul talks, there's milk, some basics. Now let's grow up and see if we can give some solid food. It's all truth important for Christians growth because the truth, because clear, accurate, sound doctrine is the food that nourishes God's people. 

Paul especially knew how crucial his teaching was, particularly for those Christians who would be raised up as church planters, like Epaphras or elders and teachers, so that we can pull back from our text (and it’s actually in the next chapter of Acts, Chapter 20): But a few years later, the Apostle Paul says, “go call all of the elders, pastors, shepherds, teachers, leaders of the churches (really not just in Ephesus, but throughout there in Asia). Bring them over here,” and he gives them a speech, knowing he most likely will never see them again. And this is part of his speech, what he says to them (Acts 20:27-28) “for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Still looking at all these 100-200 men, he says (Acts 20:29-30), “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” And he then says this, (and think about what Luke’s telling us about Paul's few years there in Ephesus teaching): “Therefore, be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears” (Acts 20:31). 

Oh, Paul knew how crucial for the ongoing life and health of the churches’ sound doctrine was. In his last three letters before he dies, which he wrote to pastors, he continually in them emphasized the need for sound, (not unsound) sound, accurate, clear doctrine. So what we have seen here this morning is our lives as Christians, as believers, the gospel came to us as it did to these 12 men. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon us and in us and opened our eyes to see the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of our dear Savior, Jesus. And then what did we do? We sat at the feet of Jesus in the Gospels. We sat at the feet of Paul in his letters, eating and growing. And so we're called to go on, go on, feeding your soul, feeding your faith, feeding your drawing into intimacy with the Lord up close, which is another way of saying your faith. You know how Paul said, “faith comes through the word of Christ.” And it comes initially this way, absolutely. And I think every one of your experiences’ in here as a Christian, you also know that in your Christian life throughout the years, faith comes stronger through the word and through the word of Christ. And if that's true, if our faith is strengthened from the Word of God, well, then it seems that phrase (Rom. 10:17) for believers shrinks with the lack of the word of God. So go on, eating, feeding upon the word of God prayerfully in your lives. For God has made available to us in his sovereign providence through the printing press (and digital, too), he has made available Paul's teachings from the Hall of Tyrannus. It is through God's holy word, whether through Paul or through Luke or Moses, Jeremiah and Peter, through his word by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that are great God is sanctifying us. He's lovingly breaking us, and he's tenderly drawing us again and again and again into his presence. 

Let’s pray. Oh, Lord, you are merciful. It is such a grace and a mercy for us here in this church this morning, with 10 thousands upon thousands of other churches to be in your presence with your people, hearing the Bible, read and prayed and sung and preached. Thank you for your work here this morning. Thank you for your presence. Overcome us even now as we end this service together rejoicing, praying the profundity of your sanctifying work in our lives as your people to the glory of your holy name. Amen.