True and False Believers - Acts 18:18-9:7

“True and False Believers”

Acts 18:18-9:7

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, October 19, 2003

Some things are not as clear-cut as we would like them to be. We’d like bad people to always be punished; but sometimes it is difficult to tell the good people from the bad people. We would like to permit appropriate free speech and limit inappropriate speech; the problem is trying to define which is which. Life is filled with these kinds of tensions.

Our spiritual life is filled with tension too. I would like to resolve the tension between God’s Sovereignty and man’s freedom but that is easier said than done. I would love to declare what a God-honoring worship service looks like; but it seems to depend much more on the hearts of the participants than the order of service and style of music. I’d love to give the definitive Biblical position on baptism, the frequency of communion, and the role of the miraculous in the life of the believer. These issues are not as clear as we might like.

In our text today we are going to look at two accounts: the story of Apollos and the disciples of John the Baptist. These stories will raise a couple of really tough questions: What knowledge do we have to have in order to be saved? What does it mean to receive the Holy Spirit?

Our text begins by recounting the events at the end of the second missionary journey. Paul finished his work in Corinth and decided to head back to Jerusalem (probably for Passover). Paul had apparently taken a Nazarite vow that probably caused him to abstain from eating meat or drinking wine for thirty days. During that time he let his hair grow. After the thirty days he cut his hair and it was burned on the altar as a sacrifice to the Lord. It is possible that Paul made the vow as a way of expressing his thanks to God for the ministry and protection afforded him in Corinth.

Paul took off by sea with Priscilla and Aquilla and they made port at Ephesus. (I don’t know what happened to Silas and Timothy). Paul stopped in Ephesus and spoke in the synagogue. The Jews received Paul with enthusiasm. Paul felt he couldn’t remain because he had to push on to Syria to make it to the feast. He had Priscilla and Aquilla remain in Ephesus. He promised he would return, if the Lord permitted.

Paul arrived in Caesarea and then traveled to Jerusalem. He had a short stay in Jerusalem and then went back North to Antioch. He reported to the church and in a short period of time made plans to begin his third missionary journey. Luke covers this journey of about 1500 miles with just a sentence.

APOLLOS

While all this was going on, back in Ephesus,

a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

Apollos was from Alexandria, a major city of the day; He was very well educated. He had a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament (the New Testament hadn’t been written yet), and had been “instructed in the way of the Lord”. He spoke with energy and conviction. He taught accurately about Jesus but only knew the baptism of John.

It is that last sentence that is confusing. How could he teach accurately about Jesus if he knew only the baptism of John?

John the Baptist urged his followers to repent and to prepare their hearts for a coming Messiah. John knew that the Messiah was Jesus. Consequently, it is likely that Apollos had been taught the Old Testament Scriptures. He had been taught about the promise of the Messiah. Apparently he even knew that Jesus was the “one who was to come”, and trusted in Him as the Messiah. But it is also likely he didn’t know about the sinless life, sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection, glorious ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. As Apollos taught in the synagogue his messages were good, but incomplete. There was nothing wrong with what he said, he just didn’t take it far enough.

It would be like a young man taking his honey out to a romantic restaurant. He has the strolling violinist come by and play their favorite strong. He takes her hands and looks her in the eye and tells her how much he values her. He might talk about her hair, her sense of humor, and how devoted he is to her. He might tell her that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Her eyes get misty. Then he looks at her and says those familiar words, “So, what would you like to eat!” There is a good chance that this young man might get a glass of water thrown into his face. His words were great, but they didn’t go far enough.

Priscilla and Aquilla noticed that the message of Apollos was incomplete so they invited him over to dinner and during the evening told him “the rest of the story . . . “. Apollos received this new instruction and went on to be a powerful teacher of the gospel.

Here’s the question: Was Apollos a believer before he talked to Priscilla and Aquilla? If he had died before he heard the rest of the story would he have gone to Heaven? At first I was inclined to think that Apollos couldn’t be a believer if he didn’t know about the cross and resurrection. If that is true, what about the Old Testament saints (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David)? I believe they will be in Heaven because they trusted God and believed His promise of salvation even though they didn’t understand it fully. They were saved by God’s grace just like we are.

How much does a person need to know before they can trust Christ for salvation? Can a mentally challenged person who believes that Jesus loves him be saved even though he does not fully understand the concept of the atonement? Can a young child have enough faith to be saved even though they don’t really understand what Good Friday and Easter is about? I believe they could indeed be genuine followers of Christ. It is not the amount of information you have that saves you . . . it is who you are trusting.

It’s kind of like getting married. No couple fully understands what marriage is about when they declare their love to each other. None of us really understood what love meant when we were married. Yet, in spite of our lack of understanding, the marriage was legal and valid. We learned and continue to learn as we go.

Please understand, I’m not saying it doesn’t matter what you believe. Obviously, it does matter. I just don’t know what a person HAS TO KNOW before we can say they have saving faith. Truthfully, it’s not my responsibility to determine who believes and who doesn’t, that determination belongs to the Lord. Only He can determine whether a person with much knowledge has the faith to go along with that knowledge. He can tell whether a person who knows little actually believes much.

We are not called to devise an entrance exam into the Kingdom. Our job is to be faithful in sharing the truth of the gospel. Our job is to tell people about Jesus. It is our responsibility to let people know that Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for our sin and invites us to trust Him for forgiveness and new life. The good news is this: no matter how much knowledge you have right now, the door of eternal life is open to you now.

Notice something about Apollos. He was a very well educated man. He could have pointed to the degrees on his wall and said to Priscilla and Aquila, “Look, what do you think you tentmakers can teach me?” But that was not his attitude. Apollos listened, he learned, and he grew. A wise man or woman is humble enough to be open to instruction from anyone. Adults can learn from the innocence of children. Young people can learn from the wisdom of the elderly. Long-time believers can learn from a recent convert. Pastors can learn from their people. Christians can even learn from non-Christians. If we are open, God will teach us in a variety of ways.

We can also learn from the way Priscilla and Aquilla approached Apollos. They were not harsh or demeaning. They did not seek to correct Apollos publicly. They invited him home and spoke to him privately. To correct or inform him in the public forum might have humiliated Apollos, might have discredited him as a teacher, and would have confused those who were listening. By dealing with the issues privately they made it possible for Apollos to learn and grow. Because they were gracious Apollos became a great teacher in the church. Some have suggested that Apollos might be the unknown author of the book of Hebrews.

THE DISCIPLES OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Our second account raises a different question

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. 4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Paul returned to some of the churches he had helped establish. This time he traveled by land rather than by sea. When he reached Ephesus he found some “disciples”. Paul asked them a question that we may find rather odd. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They responded, “We have no idea what you are talking about.”

Paul followed up with another question, “Well, were you baptized?” “Yes, we were.” “Tell me about your baptism?” “We were baptized by the followers of John the Baptist.”

It seems these men had heard the message from the disciples of John the Baptist about the need to repent but they seem to know nothing about Jesus. Apparently, these men were disciples of John the Baptist (like Apollos) but were not believers. Paul had to explain the gospel to them. They believed the message and received Christ as their Savior and Lord, and were re-baptized. Then Paul placed his hands on them and “the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied”.

This passage raises several questions

· Why did Paul ask about the Holy Spirit? Why not talk about Jesus?

· How would you know if you had received the Spirit or not?

· Do you need to speak in tongues to receive the Spirit?

Let’s take the questions one at a time. Why did Paul focus on the Holy Spirit? Paul recognized that those who are truly saved, by definition have received the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that “no one can come to the Him unless the Spirit drew Him.” (John 6:44)

When Paul wrote to the Ephesians he told them, “ you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” [Eph. 1:13,14] In other words, when we believe, God gives us His Spirit.

In Romans 8, Paul declares the person who is a true believer is the one who does what the Spirit desires. If he is not doing what the Spirit desires, he/she is not a true believer.

By asking about the Holy Spirit, Paul got to the heart of the issue. If they had the Holy Spirit they were saved. If they did not, they weren’t.

That leads to the second question. How do you know if the Holy Spirit is in you? First, you need to ask yourself if you are trusting Christ alone for your salvation. If you have received God’s offer of eternal life through the death and resurrection of Christ, and if you are following Christ as Lord, you are a believer. If you are a believer, you have the Holy Spirit. God’s Word says so.

Second, you can look for the evidence of the Holy Spirit’s influence in your life. Do you love God more sincerely? Are you noticing that you have new desires and appetites for the things that are holy and good? Do you recognize sin in your life? Are your attitudes changing? Are you beginning to show love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in the way you treat others and view life? If you can see this fruit in your life, then the Holy Spirit is at work in you.

If someone asked you “are you in love?” How would you answer that question? You would look for evidence. You might talk about how your life has changed since you met the person you love. Perhaps you would talk about how important that person had become to you. Maybe you would relate how powerfully you are drawn to that person. The point is, that this question is difficult to answer. There doesn’t seem to be any definitive way to identify love. There are however signs we can point to as evidence of love. So it is in the matter of the Holy Spirit.

But there is still another question. Do we need to speak in tongues to have God’s Spirit in us? Four times in the book of Acts we read about people who received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Should all true believers have this experience?

I think it is difficult to come up with a “normative” Christian experience. God is not concerned about us having an experience of some kind. He is concerned that we find and follow Him. It is not surprising at all that different people would have different experiences.

I believe it is a mistake to conclude that what we see in these four experiences in Acts is what everyone should experience if they are going to be “spirit filled”. We need to balance these accounts with some other facts,

· We read in the Bible of many others who come to Christ and there is nothing said about them speaking in tongues as evidence of the Holy Spirit in their life. When Jesus had the Holy Spirit come on Him at his baptism, He did not speak in tongues.

· There are numerous passages in the Bible that that teach that every believer receives the Holy Spirit when they believe. If we already have Him we don’t need to receive Him again.

· We need to be careful because the Bible warns it is possible to produce counterfeit signs and miracles (2 Thess. 2:9; Matthew 24:24)

· These passages in Acts may be teaching something different. Each of the accounts of tongues speaking in Acts comes as the gospel expands to a new group of people. In Acts 2 the Spirit came on the church in Jerusalem. In Acts 8 the Samaritans believed and spoke in tongues. In Acts 10 the God-fearing Gentiles believed and spoke in tongues. Now, in Acts 19 it is likely that these were Gentiles who had nothing to do with the synagogue. They believed and the Holy Spirit came upon them. In each case, God showed that these people were full and equal members of the body of Christ by duplicating the Pentecost experience.

· In 1 Corinthians Paul identifies tongues as a gift; but it is a gift that is not intended for everyone (1 Cor. 12:4, 27-31)

I don’t think these passages in Acts were meant to give us a picture of what a “normal” experience was supposed to be. I think we are supposed to learn two things: First, salvation is not just knowing about God, it’s about having a relationship with God. We don’t just receive salvation when we believe, we begin a vital relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Second, we learn that this relationship is open to any and all who will believe. There is no second class Christian in the kingdom of God (even though we may act like some are better than others). Every believer; rich, poor, white, black, American, African, Australian, Mexican, Russian, Chinese, is given God’s Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing their inheritance. Every believer has been given God’s Spirit who is working in him or her to accomplish God’s will in his or her life. EVERY believer.

CONCLUDING LESSONS

Let me wrap this up with a few observations. First, I realize I may have raised more questions than I’ve answered this morning. We should not be afraid of unanswered questions. Questions help us grow. Questions keep us open to the truth. When we become convinced we have everything “figured out” we are usually in trouble. We have made God subject to our understanding rather than recognizing God is bigger and greater than our ability to fully understand. Be honest with God about your questions. It may help you grow in your faith.

It would be nice if we had some formula that could effectively help us distinguish between those who are mere professors of faith and those who truly possessed it. That line is pretty fuzzy at times.

I hope you will evaluate your own life. Do you have the Holy Spirit in you? Have you been reborn by God’s Spirit or have you merely joined a religious organization? Have you truly been made new by God’s transforming power or are you just going through the motions? If you aren’t sure of where you stand, talk to the Lord this morning. Surrender your life, and your hope of saving yourself or being good enough. Receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord. Welcome His Holy Spirit into your life and pray that God would make you new. Honest questions won’t hurt if they result in honest answers, because after all, it’s the truth that will set us free.

©Copyright 2003 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche, October 19, 2003