Pauls Third Mission Trip
Notes
Transcript
Now we can begin Paul's 3rd Mission trip
Crazy to think about all that has happened when
On Paul’s 1st Mission Trip
Before they sent Paul out on his first mission trip
They spent time in prayer and were fasting to hear from God
To ensure they were hearing from God
During His first mission trip he left Antioch and went to Salamis, Paphos, Attalia and then back to Antioch, and Iconium and Lystra
At least that was the route taken on the map
Throughout his many stops during his first mission trip
Paul does what he was called to do
Paul is all about sharing the Gospel
Then Paul goes on a second mission trip
And what does Paul continue to do
He continues to share the Gospel
He wants to go right but He hears from God to go to the other way
He ends up planting a church
On his 2nd Mission Journey he goes to Jerusalem, Caesarea, Antioch, Tarsus, Derbe, Iconium, Antioch, Mysia, Troas, Neapolis, Philippi, Apollonia, Thessalonica, Beroea, Athens, and Corinth
Because he continues to be obedient to what the Lord has called him to do
Of course he encounters some difficulties and some struggles and of course he is attacked and experiences persecution because He is about the Lords Work
We should expect no less if we are about the Lords work
Then Paul finishes the 2nd Mission Journey and now is about to continue for a 3rd Time
According to the map, he goes to Ephesus, Mitylene, Troas, Neapolis, Miletus, Patara, Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea, and Jerusalem
And what do you think Paul is going to do on this mission journey
if you guessed doing what Paul does, that he is going to share the Gospel and reason with people you are correct
1 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. 7 There were in all about twelve men.
These people know about Christ but didn’t know Christ personally
They were in essence playing Christian
They come to know Christ personally
Because Paul share the Gospel with them and explains it to them
So let me take this time to make is so very clear this morning
You may very well be here this morning and you may know all the Christian answers
You may be playing Chrstians
If you have never repented of your sins and trusted Jesus to be Lord of your life then let me clear this morning you are not saved
Again you may know about Christ
You may be very knowledgeable about Christ like these people
It is the difference of about 18 inches
From your brain to your heart
To repent is to change not just the behavior but your mind and to allow the Holy Spirit to come in and create in your a New Heart after Jesus
Then it is to trust that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of the world
Scripture is clear when you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in yourhear that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved
If you have never done that please don’t continue playing the game of well I know a lot about Jesus and the Bible I should be ok
The only test you can take to get into Heaven is do you know Christ personally
Does He dwell in your heart
During our invitation we will give you an opportuinty to respond and be saved this morning
Just like these people Paul shares the Gospel with and they repent of their sins and trust in Jesus and are saved
They are baptized to show people what happened inside their heart
So Paul continues to do what Paul does
8 And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
Paul sticks around and continues to grow the church
Continues to teach and preach the Gospel and Theology
growth doesn’t come quickly
I am reminded about the seeds and the different soil they are thrown on
It takes time to grow and develop a root system to withstand the storms
There are pruning seasons you will encounter to ensure you can grow even healthier
Lydia talked about owning a car and the stuff you have to do to own a car is like you personal relationship with Christ
It takes time to grow and dig in
There are things you need to be doing
Paul is sharing that with them and it takes time
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
what a great reminder of what being faithful and obedient leads to
I know we tend to highlight the persecution and struggles you face when you walk with Jesus
It is only because we don’t want to be blindsided
When Paul has been faithful and obedient we have read and seen what happens
God does some absolutely amazing things
It one of those things we pray about and then we shouldn’t be shocked
Church if we are praying for revival, or if we are praying for someone or some peoples to know Christ
Then when revival happens or those people come to know Christ
It shouldn’t surprise us and yet church we should be praising God
And as a side note it is not something you spend time praying for an hour and then wait, it is to go to war in pray day and night till God moves
14 Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.
This is what a community running after Jesus looks like
People recognizing Christ and then the wolves in sheep clothing, or the counterfits
We are seeing people knowing so much of Jesus that when fakes show up they are able to say you are a fake move along
The Gospel starts to spread
Nothing stops the Gospel
We are seeing repenting and devoting their lives to Jesus
They are stopping their evil practices
They are burning those books
And because the Gospel is winning it shouldn’t surprise us when persecution starts to happen
Or that it is even an idea
And what happens when the enemy sees this happening
He rises against what is happening
He stirs in some of the people of Ephesus who are losing money because people are repenting of their sin and trusting in Jesus and fleeing from idol worship
They aren’t buying hand made idols anymore
Why because of the power of the Gospel at work
Don’t ever think the Gospel isn’t powerful
24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business. 26 “You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. 27 “Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.” 28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
This is the persecution there is after the revival of what is happening in Ephesus
It appears that Ephesus had a problem with Idol worship
They were worshipping the idol Artemis
Artemis was a Greek deity known as a virgin archer-huntress associated with nature, animals and fertility
a man made thing to worship
And men in the city have cornered the market on making small figurians of Artemis to sell and make money
When revival breaks out and people are fleeing from the idol worship
Those people get mad and start to cause a seen
And yet church it is the power of the Gospel that can turn a community around
It is the power of the Gospel that calls people who are dead and in sin out of their sin and out of death and into life
The power of the Gospel had so disrupted the community that they bring some people into an assembly to bring about charges against them
Paul and the disciples
Nothing else has the power to change like the Gospel
They start to settle things down and explain if you have a problem lets do it in court
Lets not riot they say
And then church what to do think Paul does
1 After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.
Paul stays focused on the Gospel because that is the only thing that can and will make the change
Please hear me this morning
We are reading through Acts and learning and seeing what happens when people expeirence God Himself
Becuase as we have seen it is the power of the Gospel that has the power to call people out of the tomb, out of death
THis morning as we come to a close
The band will come up
As we said earlier maybe you are here and have been playing Christian
Maybe you know a lot about Christ but this morning you know you don’t knw Jesus in your heart
You have never repented and trusted Jesus
If that is you we encourage you to know Jesus in your heart this morning
We encourage to come to the front and speak with someone about how you can be saved this morning
Or maybe you already know Jesus and want to spend sometime in prayer at the alter
Church there is power in the Gospel
respond obediently
The alter is open
(Explain the highlights of his previous mission trips)
