Gospel Math
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
Have you ever tried to be faithful to God—really tried to do what’s right—and yet things just didn’t go the way you thought they should. Things just didn’t seem to add up?
You prayed, you served, you obeyed, and instead of seeing clear results or open doors, you found yourself facing confusion, rejection, or what looked like failure. It can leave you wondering, “What is God doing? Why isn’t this working the way I thought it would?”
That tension reminds me of the story of Eric Liddell, the Scottish Olympic runner made famous in the movie Chariots of Fire.
Many remember him as “the man who wouldn’t run on Sunday.” Out of his conviction to honor the Lord’s Day, he gave up his chance to compete in his best event, the 100 meters, and instead ran—and miraculously won—the 400 meters, bringing home Olympic gold.
But that’s not where his story ends. After the Olympics, at the height of his fame, Liddell left it all to serve as a missionary in China.
There, his ministry didn’t look much like victory. He faced hardship, war, and eventually imprisonment in a Japanese internment camp.
From the world’s perspective, it looked like his faithfulness didn’t add up—as if obedience had led him backward, not forward. But in reality, God was doing His own kind of math.
We see something similar in Acts 19, when Paul arrives in Ephesus. He meets people who are confused, people who reject the gospel, and a few who respond in faith. The results were mixed by human standards. But behind it all, Christ was still advancing His Kingdom—doing math in ways we don’t always anticipate.
So as we turn to Acts 19:1–10, let’s ask this question:
What kind of math does God do when His gospel meets people who are confused, resistant, or faithful?
Scripture
Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Acts 19:1-10. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1103. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
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.
This God’s Word!
Prayer
Father, your Word tells us that while the grass withers and the flowers fad, Your Word stands forever! May we treasure Your enduring and eternal Word this morning as we see your wisdom far exceeds our own. We ask this in Jesus’ Name — AMEN!
Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
As we come to Acts 19, Paul is now on his third missionary journey. He’s revisited some of the same areas where he did previous ministry—strengthening believers and building up the churches that had been planted.
In the previous chapter, we saw him briefly pass through Ephesus on his way to the church in Antioch, promising, “I will return if God wills.” Now, true to that promise and the will of God, Paul returns—and this time, Ephesus will become one of his most significant and fruitful ministries.
But it doesn’t start that way.
First, he meets a group of twelve men who seem to believe, but something’s missing.
Then, as he continues preaching, the Jewish audience hardens their hearts and publicly rejects his message.
From there, Paul withdraws and begins teaching daily in a lecture hall.
And it’s finally out of this ordinary faithfulness that the Word of God spreads throughout the entire province of Asia.
This was not a straight line to success and may have seemed like things just weren’t adding up.
But that brings us back to our question:
What kind of math does God do when His gospel meets people who are confused, resistant, or faithful?
Here’s what this passage shows us:
When the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, God does the math.
Of adding fullness where faith is lacking,
Of dividing true believers from false rejection,
And of multiplying His Word through ordinary faithfulness.
So let’s look first at how God’s gospel math of Addition—bringing fullness where faith is lacking.
Addition
Addition
Near the end of the 18th century, a group of settlers left Virginia for the mountains to the west. Many stopped partway through the journey—some because of fear of Native attacks, others because a wagon broke down or a horse died. They settled in the wilderness and, for over twenty years, had no contact with the outside world.
When explorers finally found them, the questions came quickly—and so did the shock. These mountain settlers had never heard of the Continental Congress or the new Republic. They still thought they were loyal subjects of the British king! They didn’t even know about George Washington or the Revolutionary War.
They were sincere—but sincerely behind. They believed what they knew, but what they knew wasn’t enough.
There was a massive knowledge gap.
And that’s a perfect picture of what Paul encounters in Acts 19.
You’ve heard of the twelve disciples—but here we meet what I like to call the twelve “Almost Disciples.”
They looked like believers. They sounded like believers. But something wasn’t quite right.
So Paul asks a diagnostic question in verse 2:
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
Their answer must have surprised him:
“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
So Paul digs deeper:
“Then what were you baptized into?”
They reply: “Into John’s baptism.”
Now we see the problem! These men had heard John’s message of repentance, but not the full gospel about Jesus.
They knew the prequel to the gospel, but not the full gospel.
They had repented, but lacked the knowledge to believe in the crucified, risen, and reigning Christ.
Paul’s diagnostic questions remind us of a principle we see throughout Scripture: true faith shows itself in discernible ways. Paul even encouraged the Corinthians to examine themselves (2 Corinthians 13:5) to see whether they were truly in the faith. Similarly, 1 John gives us three “tests” that every genuine believer will pass:
Doctrinal Test – Do you believe Jesus is the Christ?
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.
2. Ethical Test – Do your actions align with the truth?
If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
3. Experiential Test – Have you received the Spirit of God as the seal of your adoption into God’s family?
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
These twelve “Almost Disciples” failed at least two of these three tests. Doctrinally, they did not yet know Jesus as the Christ. Experientially, they had not received the Holy Spirit.
So Paul does what any good shepherd would do—he clearly fills in what’s missing. He proclaims the full gospel: that Jesus is the promised Messiah, crucified for sin, risen from the dead, and now exalted as Lord.
When these “Almost Disciples” heard the full message, they believed and were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And immediately, they received the Holy Spirit—along with clear evidence that they had now become true disciples.
Church, this is God’s gospel math.
When the gospel is faithfully proclaimed, God adds what is lacking.
He takes sincere but incomplete understanding and brings it to fullness in Christ.
He takes those who are spiritually dead and adds eternal life through faith in Jesus.
And the math of the gospel is glorious:
One cross plus three nails equals one empty tomb.
And by faith alone in Jesus, God subtracts our sin —removing our guilt, and adds to us the perfect righteousness of Christ—so that we now stand blameless before Him!
But here’s where it gets personal.
These twelve men looked like disciples—but they weren’t yet.
They were religious. They had some Bible knowledge. They were sincere.
But they didn’t yet know Jesus as the Christ, and they hadn’t received His Spirit.
And so I have to ask: Could that be you today?
Could it be that you, like these twelve, are an “almost” disciple?
You attend church faithfully.
You’re in a Bible study.
You serve — maybe even lead a ministry!
You know how to talk the talk.
But can you clearly articulate the full gospel? And have you received the Holy Spirit?
Now, to be clear, receiving the Spirit today does not mean you’ll speak in tongues or prophesy like these men did.
It is important to know that Acts records what happened—not necessarily what must happen every time.
The truth is that the Holy Spirit is given to every true believer. And acts as the seal of salvation and the source of our assurance.
Paul tells us this in Romans 8:16…
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
That’s what every true believer can experience—a deep, enduring assurance that you belong to Christ.
Yes, doubts may come. But the Spirit faithfully whispers, “You are mine.”
So let me ask again:
Are you an “almost” disciple—or a true disciple?
Do you simply know about Jesus, or do you truly know Him?
If you’ve been trusting in your religious record, your family background, or your good intentions—let today be the day you trust in Christ alone.
He is the One who died for you, rose again, and offers forgiveness and fullness of life to all who believe.
That’s God’s gospel math—He adds fullness where faith is lacking.
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But as we’ll see next, not everyone responds that way.
While some receive the fullness of the gospel with joy, others harden their hearts in unbelief.
And when the gospel goes forth, God not only adds—He also divides—separating genuine faith from false rejection.
Division
Division
In verse 8, we see Paul resume his familiar ministry pattern. He begins, as usual, in the synagogue — reasoning and persuading his fellow Jews that the kingdom of God has come in Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah.
Notice the verbs Luke uses: reasoning and persuading. This wasn’t a single sermon and done. Paul dialogued with them, patiently explaining and proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s promises. Verse 8 says he did this for three months!
That’s remarkable perseverance. Many of us would have given up after three weeks. But Paul stayed, patiently sowing the seed of the gospel, answering questions, addressing objections, appealing to their hearts and minds.
But then Luke says, “some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation.” Here we see the same gospel message that added faith to the twelve “almost disciples” in verses 1–7 now divides those who embrace the truth from those who reject it.
This is the point at which Paul makes a critical strategic ministry decision. He discerns that it is no longer good stewardship to remain there. So, he withdraws from them with the disciples — a clear line of division between those who receive the truth and those who resist it.
Now, this doesn’t mean Paul stopped loving these people. It means he recognized that only God can open hearts. And when it becomes clear that some are not merely confused but rebelliously resistant, the wise thing is to entrust them to God and move on to those whom God is preparing to receive the word.
This is a hard but necessary discernment.
Jesus Himself taught this principle in Matthew 7:6
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
That sounds harsh until you realize that Jesus is not calling us to contempt, but to discernment. The gospel is a priceless treasure — and when people consistently mock, distort, or attack it, we dishonor that treasure by continuing to cast it before them as though it were something cheap.
You see this pattern throughout Scripture.
In Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas turn from the Jews in Pisidian Antioch and say, “Since you thrust the word of God aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”
In Romans 1, Paul describes God “giving people over” to their sin after persistent rejection of the truth.
Even Jesus, when faced with unrepentant cities like Chorazin and Bethsaida, departed from them and focused His ministry elsewhere.
The gospel doesn’t just unite; it also divides. It separates light from darkness, truth from error, belief from unbelief. As Jesus said, in Matthew 10:34
“I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
Today, we must be just as discerning. There is a time for patient conversation and persistent witness — but there also comes a time to recognize when a person’s resistance is not intellectual but spiritual. When people begin to speak evil of the truth — twisting Scripture, mocking holiness, redefining sin — that’s when the dividing work of the gospel becomes clear.
This is why there is a real and necessary division between biblical Christianity and groups like the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. They reject the deity of Christ, deny the Trinity, and teach salvation by works rather than grace through faith.
The same is true of so-called progressive Christianity, which calls good evil and evil good by celebrating what God calls sin. These are not small disagreements — they are divisions over the very nature of the gospel itself.
Now, that doesn’t mean we write such people off with a cold or callous heart. No, we keep praying for them, loving them, and looking for opportunities to share the gospel. But we must not pretend that fellowship exists where the foundation of the faith is denied.
There’s a kind of humility in knowing when to step away. It’s not failure — it’s faithfulness.
Maybe you’ve experienced this personally. You’ve spent hours sharing Christ with someone — a friend, a coworker, a family member. You’ve opened Scripture together, answered questions, prayed for them, maybe even wept over them — but their heart has only grown harder. At some point, you realize it’s not a lack of information; it’s a rejection of revelation.
At that moment, remember this: walking away isn’t giving up — it’s giving God room to work.
Sometimes God closes one door of witness so He can open another.
So when you hit that wall — when you’ve been patient, prayerful, and persistent, but the door remains closed — don’t see it as failure. Recognize it as the dividing work of the gospel preparing you for your next assignment.
Paul wasn’t quitting in verse 9; he was redirecting. God was about to open a new and more fruitful door for ministry in Ephesus — the lecture hall of Tyrannus, where the gospel would go forth with multiplying power. This is where we turn to next in my final point.
Multiplication
Multiplication
After Paul withdraws from the synagogue with the disciples, Luke tells us in verse 9 that he began “reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.”
Most scholars believe this was a lecture hall used for public teaching — likely available during the heat of the afternoon when most people rested.
We don’t know for certain whether Paul rented the space or whether Tyrannus himself was a convert who made it available. But what we do know is this: when one door closed, Paul didn’t stop ministering — he simply found a new space to keep advancing the gospel.
And that’s a lesson for us: faithfulness isn’t tied to a location; it’s tied to a mission.
Verse 10 gives us the incredible result:
“This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”
That’s staggering. Not just Ephesus, but all of Asia — the entire Roman province — heard the gospel!
Two remarkable truths stand out here.
First, do you remember back in Acts 16, when Paul tried to go into Asia during his second missionary journey — but the Holy Spirit forbade him? That must have been confusing. Paul wanted to go where the gospel had not yet been preached, but God closed the door.
Now, several years later, we see why. God’s “no” in Acts 16 was really a “not yet.” The time wasn’t right then — but now, in Acts 19, the door is wide open, and the gospel explodes across Asia!
That’s the pattern of God’s providence. His delays are not denials; His “no” is often His way of preparing a greater “yes.”
Think of Joseph in prison. Think of Moses in the desert. Think of Jesus waiting thirty years before beginning His public ministry. God’s timing is never late, but it’s often different than ours — and always wiser.
So, if you’ve experienced a closed door in ministry or in life — if God seems to be saying “no” to something you deeply desire to do for Him — trust that He sees the whole picture. His “no” now may be a “not yet” that will make perfect sense later on.
As Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
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The second remarkable thing is that there’s no way Paul personally preached to every resident of Asia. We know from his letters that he never even visited certain cities like Colossae.
At the beginning of Colossians, Paul writes that they heard the gospel from Epaphras, a fellow servant of Christ (Col. 1:7). Where did Epaphras hear the gospel? Most likely from Paul in the hall of Tyrannus! He was a man who sat under the Word, was trained by Paul, and then sent out to proclaim the gospel in his own city.
And he wasn’t the only one. From that two-year period of ministry, the gospel rippled outward through an unknown number of unnamed disciples. The churches in Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia — the very churches later addressed in Revelation — all likely trace their roots back to this season of multiplication in Ephesus.
That’s incredible. Paul wasn’t just adding believers; he was multiplying disciple-makers.
This is what Paul would later write to Timothy:
So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
That’s four generations of discipleship in one verse — Paul → Timothy → faithful men → others also. That’s the pattern of gospel multiplication.
That’s what happened in Ephesus — and that’s what can happen here too!
Church, dream with me! How might we become more like the hall of Tyrannus — a gospel training center that multiplies impact both locally and globally?
Oh that we would truly grow in our sending capacity more than our seating capacity!
It starts with every believer being equipped and engaged in the mission.
If you’re newer to our church, a great place to start is our First Steps class — that’s where you’ll learn who we are and how you can connect and grow with us.
If you’ve never been part of a discipleship group, make that your next goal. It’s where you’ll learn to follow Jesus more closely and grow in community.
If you’ve already been discipled, consider leading a group yourself or serving on one of our ministry teams.
The goal is not to fill seats but to form servants. Not just to gather people but to grow disciple-makers.
The same Holy Spirit who multiplied the gospel in Ephesus is still at work today — and He delights to use ordinary people who make themselves available to Him.
You don’t need a platform or a podcast. You just need a burning heart for Jesus, a teachable spirit, and a willingness to be used.
So let’s pray that our church becomes a modern-day Hall of Tyrannus — where men and women are trained, sent, and multiplied for the glory of God.
Because when God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed, and God’s people are equipped, multiplication follows.
Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
When we began this morning, I told you about Eric Liddell—the Olympic champion who gave up fame and comfort to serve Christ in China.
To the watching world, his obedience didn’t make sense. He traded gold medals for poverty, crowds for classrooms, and glory for obscurity.
In the end, he died in a prison camp—unknown to most, unseen by many. By the world’s calculations, the math didn’t add up.
But what the world couldn’t see was that God was doing His own kind of math.
Through Liddell’s life and legacy, countless people came to know Christ after his death. Faithfulness may not always look like success, but it always bears fruit in God’s timing.
And that’s what Acts 19 teaches us.
When Paul came to Ephesus, it didn’t seem like things were adding up either. He met confusion and resistance — But through it all, God was at work—doing His gospel math:
He added fullness where faith was lacking — bringing the “almost disciples” into true salvation.
He divided those who received the truth from those who rejected it — clarifying who truly belonged to Christ.
And He multiplied the gospel through ordinary faithfulness — until all of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.
So when your obedience feels like it isn’t paying off—when you pour out your time, prayers, and heart, and it just doesn’t seem to add up—remember this: God is still doing the math.
He’s adding what’s missing,
Dividing where needed,
And multiplying what you could never measure.
As Isaiah 55 reminds us:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
Church, our job is not to make the math work—it’s to stay faithful.
Faithful to proclaim Christ clearly.
Faithful to stand firm when others reject Him.
Faithful to invest in others so that the gospel multiplies beyond us.
Like Eric Liddell, like Paul in Ephesus, may we run the race God sets before us—trusting that even when things don’t seem to add up, God’s arithmetic of grace never fails.
Prayer
Closing Song: Grace Greater Than All Our Sin
Closing Words:
Church, aren’t you thankful this morning that God’s grace really is greater than all our sin?
We’ve seen today that when we faithfully proclaim Christ, God does the math—He adds what is lacking, divides truth from error, and multiplies His gospel through ordinary, faithful people like you and me.
So as we go out this week, remember—you are sent out as Christ’s ambassadors.
You may not stand in a synagogue or a lecture hall like Paul, but every workplace, classroom, and neighborhood you enter is your mission field.
May you be faithful to speak of Christ, to show His grace, and to trust that even when things don’t seem to add up, God is still at work—doing His gospel math through you.
If you’re here this morning and you’ve realized you may be like those “almost disciples” we talked about earlier—religious but not yet redeemed—then don’t leave here today unsure.
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. His cross and empty tomb are God’s gracious equation that erases your sin and adds His righteousness to you by faith.
If you’d like to know that you truly belong to Him, I want to invite you to come to the front after the service. One of our members would love to pray with you and help you take that step of faith in Christ today.
And maybe for you, you’ve been attending for a while, and it’s time to take a Next Step—to get connected, to join a group, to serve, or to begin discipleship.
You can let us know by filling out one of those orange Next Steps cards in the pew pocket in front of you. Then drop it off at the welcome counter on your way out.
We’d love to help you find your place in the mission God is multiplying through our church.
Church, let’s be faithful this week—trusting that the grace of God that saved us will also sustain us and send us until all the world hears about Jesus!
Benediction (Ephesians 3:20–21)
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
