Practical Theology

Introduction

Last week, we began Acts 18, and we saw the Apostle Paul experience some things that every church needs to experience, and that every Christian needs to experience if they expect to grow in their faith.

When we get tired in our Christian walk, or when things in life don’t go our way, what keeps us holding on?

Well, we saw that Paul was given some dedicated friends from God. When Paul was found all by himself, God set apart the husband and wife duo of Aquila and Priscilla to provide ministry support for Paul. The Scripture says that they were all tent makers, and when they met, they got along so well that they became strong ministry partners.

Not only did Paul have this new found friendship with Aquilla and Priscilla, he was eventually found by his two partners Timothy and Silas. And when those two came, they didn’t come empty handed, they came with a financial gift from the church in Macedonia. That financial gift allowed the Apostle Paul to set aside tent making and focus on sharing the gospel.

But life then was like life now…when things started going well…the opposition came.

But the opposition to the ministry of Paul didn’t slow him down…all it did was strengthen his resolve. All it did was mature his faith.

Because the Apostle Paul responded well under pressure, we were able to see what kind of person is necessary for the work of God.

Laboring for the Lord isn’t an easy job. It takes dedication and it takes patience. It takes calmness when everything else around us is in shambles.

And, as a church, we would do well to remember that crisis and disagreement doesn’t define us, but how we respond to that crisis is what defines us.

But even in times of chaos, we can be sure that God is going to send us comfort from His word.

Jesus came to Paul in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, but speak, for I have many people in this city.”

And when the Lord says it we can believe it. If it’s from the Lord then we must obey it.

And so many times in life, when you’re just about to throw in the towel…if you’ll listen, and you’ll pay attention, you’ll see the encouragement the God is sending you, and you’ll read it in His word, and the Holy Spirit will testify to your heart all about the goodness of God.

And, friend, when Jesus brings you that word of encouragement, He’s always going to give you an action to perform.

We get it so backwards. We think that Jesus is there to serve us. We think that we can sit down, write out our grocery list of demands, and that God is obligated to meet those demands.

What we do is we act like spoil children who want their way.

What we have to remember is that Jesus is the Lord and we are His servants. So, whatever He commands we do.

Churches and people get this confused all the time.

I was with a seminary professor one day and he was telling us about a church where he was serving as the interim.

There was a problem in that church, and the problem boiled down to what all problems in life boil down to, and it was that they were acting in way and operating in a way that was contrary to Scripture.

And this seasoned pastor gets to the deacons meeting, pulls out His Bible, shows the leadership their error, points to it in Scripture, and the chairman of the deacons looks at him and says, “Preacher, that might be what the Bible says, but that’s not the way we do it around here.”

For some reason, in the human mind, and even in our churches, we think that the Bible is a guideline instead of our authority.

We think that the church is here to serve us. We think that God must meet our demands simply because we asked Him too…but I’m sorry, it just doesn’t work that way. He is God, you are not. He is Lord, you are not. He is the Master, and you are to obey Him.

If you don’t want to, that’s fine…just don’t expect me to go along with you. If I have to choose between you and Jesus…I’m going with Him!

Context

Now, here we are in Acts 18:22. Paul has left Ephesus, and he is on furlough. He has returned to home base there in Antioch.

What he is doing there is he is giving a report of his second missionary journey and also preparing to take his third. We’re not sure exactly how long Paul spent in Antioch before leaving for his third journey, but many expect that it was close to a year.

Acts 18:22–23 NKJV

And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

The focus of chapter 18:24-19 is ministry in the city of Ephesus…a city riddled with darkness and witchcraft. It was a city with 300,000 residents and the capital of the Roman Province of Asia. This city prospered because it was situated with a large harbor, making it one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Not only that, two miles east of this major city sat the temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the world.

People from all over the known world would travel to Ephesus just to see this temple. One commentator described it as a temple measuring 418 ft by 239 ft, with 100 columns that stood over 50 feet high. That would make it twice as wide and twice as long as the Lincoln Memorial. It’s insane height would be like standing in the middle of two Walmart Supercenters stacked on top of each other.

The people believed that sacred image of Artemis or Diana inside of this temple fell from Heaven.

Diana was the goddess of fertility and the main form of worship to Diana was prostitution, and hundreds of Diana’s ministers were available for services to aid in worship.

This city was so vital to the expansion of God’s Kingdom and so riddled with darkness, that Paul spent three years in Ephesus, making it his longest tenure in any city.

We get to v. 24, and the narrative of Ephesus begins.

I. It’s All About Jesus (The Missing Ingredient)

Acts 18:24–26 NKJV

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Introducing Apollos

Paul is traveling. Aquila and Priscilla have gone into Ephesus before Paul to prepare some mission work there…and they’re in the Synagogue to start evangelizing, and they come across Apollos.

v. 24 described him as might in the Scripture. It also says that he was eloquent…meaning that he was well learned and educated. He came from Alexandria which rivaled Athens when it came to academic pursuit.

When he spoke, he spoke with conviction and intensity. When the Bible says that he was “fervent in spirit” it means that he was “boiling hot”.

Unfortunately some people think they can be boiling hot when they preach without being mighty in Scripture. Well, it doesn’t work that way. The Bible describes the Word of God like a fire…if you want to speak with boldness concerning the things of God then your private life has to be saturated with prayer, love, and fidelity to God’s Holy Word.

As eloquent, as mighty, and as boiling hot as Apollos was, his message was a false gospel. It wasn’t that Apollos was trying to preach a false gospel, it’s just that all of his logic and the intensity of his boiling hot spirit meant nothing without a knowledge of Jesus Christ.

So what happens?

Apollos Receives Instruction

Aquila and Priscilla hear Apollos boldly defend the Scriptures and preach the ministry of John the baptist…but that was a large problem. Because the Man that John was pointing to had already come, been crucified, buried, ressurected, and ascended to Heaven.

Apollos was preaching an outdated message. It was a message of repentance. It was a message to look for a coming savior because there was no hope for the world as it stands.

So, these two faithful missionaries bring Apollos aside, so as not to embarrass him, or to confuse the Jews there, and they teach him about Jesus.

This very intelligent man, mighty in the Scripture…a man with a boiling hot spirit is now sitting humbly at the feet of two tent makers learning all he can about the Lord Jesus. No doubt, Apollos was saved that day and became a trusted friend and co-laborer with Paul.

After that day, v. 27-28 tell us that his boiling hot spirit concerning the message of John the Baptist, transferred to the truth about the grace of Jesus Christ and that he became a bold witness for the Lord.

The Same Problem (John’s Twelve Disciples)

So they send Apollos away, and Paul comes to Ephesus, and he encounters a group of men the same as Apollos.

Acts 19:1–4 NKJV

And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?” So they said, “Into John’s baptism.” Then Paul said, “John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

Acts 19:7 NKJV

Now the men were about twelve in all.

These twelve men never heard of Jesus, and didn’t know that Pentecost had taken place. When v. 2 says that they didn’t know there was a Holy Spirit, it means that they did not know the Holy Spirit had come. In the Old Testament, and in the message of John, the Holy Spirit is promised.

Since they did not know that the Holy Spirit had come, they did not understand that Jesus has already paid for their sin debt.

The major indicator that they were not saved was that were not indwelled with God’s Holy Spirit.

Now, apparently before Apollos came to know the full story of Jesus, he made quite the impact on Ephesus. When Paul wrote his epistle to the church at Ephesus he talked about this very thing in the first chapter…that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit bears witness that we have received salvation

Ephesians 1:13–14 NKJV

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

What is Paul talking about?

That when a person truly comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God is imparted to them and they receive the nature of God.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

That is, that your old nature, your old spirit, your old will, your old way of thinking is erased, it is done away with, it is cleansed, and God give you His Spirit, and you become a new creation.

The old spirit within you is gone, and the Holy Spirit now lives in you.

How can you know if the Holy Spirit lives in you?

Very simply, you know if the Holy Spirit lives in you if you live according to the Spirit of God and do not live like people without salvation.

The Book of Galatians give us this distinction:

Galatians 5:19–21 NKJV

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Compare that to the nature of the Godly man.

Galatians 5:22–24 NKJV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Paul writes to the church at Ephesus to remind them that Jesus saved them, that Jesus imparted to them His nature by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and that we can’t do anything on our own to earn it but that it’s a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:1–10 NKJV

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Listen folks, you can be the best person in this room and die and go to Hell.

In fact, it’s been said many times that somebody on this earth will have been the best person to ever die and go to Hell.

I doesn’t matter if you’re mighty in the Scripture. It doesn’t matter if you live a moral and holy life. It doesn’t matter if you have a spirit that is boiling hot concerning the things of God, if you die without a faith in Jesus Christ, your destination is Hell.

Look there again in v. 8-9 of Ephesians 2

Ephesians 2:8–9 NKJV

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

You cannot work your way to Heaven, you cannot be good enough to go to Heaven. It is a gift that only God can give.

God is the One Who gave Jesus to be murdered on the cross for our sin.

God is the One Who gives His Spirit to those who trust in the name of Jesus Christ.

God is the One that every man will answer to when they die.

And at the end of all time, when Jesus Christ comes back to this earth, Scripture says that all judgement in Heaven and earth has been given to Him, the Bible says that all men will rise and give an account before Jesus Christ, and He will cast all those who denied Him into the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 20:12–15 NKJV

And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

Friend, the missing ingredient in your life is not a new spouse, it’s not a larger bank account, it’s not a vacation or any luxury this world can give. The missing ingredient in your life is the same ingredient that was missing in the life of Apollos and those twelve men…and His name is Jesus.

So, whether you are a Christian or you are lost, recognize that it’s all about Jesus.

II. Darkness Has No Power

John 1:4–5 NKJV

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

That is, the darkness did not overcome it.

Paul has seen some progress happening in Ephesus…and when there is progress and there is clout to be gained from professing the name of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that people will copycat and they will use the name of Jesus for their own gain.

We see this all the time in our politics and from the health and wealth preachers.

They’re called grifters, and these news anchors and these media personalities, and often times these politicians will claim allegiance to Jesus Christ, and many Christians blindly follow them and prop them up as a modern day prophet, just to be disappointed when years later they are revealed to be using the name of Christ for their own personal gain.

Well, as true as that is today, it was just as true back then.

v. 11 says that Paul is performing miracles.

v. 13 says that some copycats do the same thing for money.

Acts 19:13 NKJV

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

This is a city that saturated in spiritual darkness. And when the ministry of Paul began to take form, the world does what it always does and it tries to take advantage of the name of Jesus.

These men, these Jewish exorcists attempted to use the name and the testimony of Jesus Christ for sinister purposes, and God allowed their pride and their insolence to be used for His glory.

Acts 19:15–19 NKJV

And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver.

Many times we get disheartened because of hypocritical Christians.

Really, I want to say they’re not Christian at all, they’re just pretenders and their judgement will come in due time.

But we must remember that darkness has now power when Jesus is involved.

This dark city, this city filled with all kinds of idol worship, sexual immorality, and witchcraft is now in a tailspin, and so many people are coming to know the Lord Jesus that Dr. Luke didn’t even bother to count them.

We are in a dark time in our nation’s history.

An innocent man we know as Charlie Kirk was assassinated in broad daylight.

Our political structure is so polarized that they can’t even agree on the best way to keep stealing our money.

Church growth is at an all time low and people are more illiterate about the Bible than any other generation in our nation’s history.

But just as God did in that day, He can do in this day, and when the people of God begin to trust in the Word of God, He can reveal that the darkness that we are facing in our nation today has no power.

We claim to be a people that have the truth, we claim to be a people that have the answers to the problems of the world, and we won’t share it because we’re afraid of what might happen to us.

Folks, listen…the one thing that is going to happen when God’s people boldly declare that Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life to their relatives, to their friends, and to their coworkers is the darkness is going to purged from our nation.

Until the church decides to be the church and quits playing footsies with the world, we’re going to be in dark times.

But when the people of God are ready to live by the Word of God…when the people of God are ready to fulfill the Great Commission, then darkness will be driven out from our nation and we will see God give us that revival that has been prayed for for so long.

And there’s one final thing I want to tell you. First, it’s all about Jesus…without Him, we’re nothing. Second, darkness has no power when the light shines. Finally, people all over the world are trapped in darkness, and it’s our job to help them be set free.

III. Jesus Sets the Captives Free

As the influence of Jesus Christ began to spread, idol sales began to plummet. People were being rescued out of darkness and sin and that just didn’t sit right with the power at be.

So Satan uses a man named Demetrius to incite a riot against Paul and his companions, all because they were losing money from a lack of idol sales.

There is a large festival taking place to celebrate sin and sexual lewdness there at the great temple of Diana, and Demetrius incites them, and they rush to grab two of Paul’s companions and drag them into the theatre so that everyone could see them there.

But I want you to see what the Scripture says about this violent crowd.

Acts 19:32 NKJV

Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

Our world is lost, dying, and on its way to Hell. People today are more confused than ever.

We have men that believe they’re women and vice versa.

We openly allow our children to be sexualized in the way they dress and what they consume in media.

People believe that goodness comes from within, and they believe that they can be righteous without the indwelling of God.

That’s because they are confused about Who God is.

People think that they are God or that they can bargain with the God of the Bible.

But God is holy, and He is righteous, and He will not tolerate sin.

Our whole world is confused…

What do we do for a world that’s confused?

Mark 6:34 NKJV

And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.

The only way for us to give clarity to a lost and a dying world…the only way for us to reverse the confusion in our nation is to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are lost and to continue to educate those that are saved.

The only person that can set the captive free is Jesus Christ, do you know Him?

Conclusion