More Religious Conversions
Witness to the world: Book of Acts • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 57:05
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Handout
Conversions in Acts
Conversions in Acts
We today arrive at the last detailed example of conversion in the book of Acts. So may we take a minute to be reminded and also see the common tread throughout them?
Pentecost - 3000 at birth of church (Act2:1-41)
Baptized (Act2:41)
41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.
Solomon’s porch lead to 2000 more (Act3:1-4:4)
Baptism - implied (Act4:4)
4 But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
Samaritans- many believed (Act8:4-25)
Baptism (Act8:12)
12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.
Ethiopian Eunuch (Act8:26-40)
Baptism (Act8:38)
38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.
Saul of Tarsus (Act9:1-19, 22:6-16)
Baptism (Act9:18, 22:16)
18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized;
Cornelius and his household (Act10:1-11:18)
Baptism (Act10:47-48)
47 “Surely no one can refuse the water for these to be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we did, can he?” 48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
Lydia and her household (Act16:6-15)
Baptism (Act16:15)
15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
A Jailer and household in Philippi (Act16:25-34)
Baptism (Act16:33)
33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
Some people in Athens (Act17:16-34)
Baptism (implied) (Act17:34)
34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
The Corinthians (Act18:1-11)
Baptism (Act18:8)
8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.
Also you can see that in each of the passages noted that the gospel message focused on:
Jesus Christ who died for our sins
Jesus Christ whom the Spirit raised from the dead
Jesus Christ who is both Lord and Christ and one day will come to judge the world (deliver justice)
Another fact you may notice if you look back at the scriptures is that there was an expectation of those who were being baptized
There needed to be faith, faith in Jesus Christ, and confession of that faith
Repentance of sin’s
Immediately baptized for remission of sins
Below is on the outline but not on the screen, encourage to think, look, note down on their own.
Question: Thus far in the conversions in Acts we see some common threads, in your notes, note down what they were.
(Transition) there is some uniqueness in the conversion story we are going to read this evening for it describes a “re-baptism.” So as we look tonight
We will look at the text (Act19:1-7)
The conversion; was it needed?
Re-baptism?
Our text
Our text
As Simply Christians we __________ God’s word to ______ God’s Word. (Left blank intentionally. So let’s glean from the passage then will look at the reason, purpose and draw a conclusion.
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.
What do you see, what did you notice, what sticks out to you?
Gleaning from the scripture:
Question: There is a very interesting question that Paul asks in (v.2), what is it?
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
Question: What was Paul’s next question (v.3)?
Into what were you baptized?
Question: Paul said John gave instructions on what people were to do (v.4) what were the instructions?
Believe in Him who was coming after him, Jesus
Question: When they heard Paul (v.4) what did they do (v.5)?
They were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Question: what happened after Paul laid hands on them (v.6) and how many people were there that this happen to (v.7)?
Began speaking with tongues and prophesying and there were about twelve men.
Back story: Paul had just started his 3rd missionary trip, with the focus being on strengthening all of the disciples (Act18:23); this was after he had a quick stop in Ephesus (Act18:19-21) where they wanted him to stay but he said if him the Lord willing he would return (Act18:21) and that is where we are now. He has returned.
The conversion- was it needed?
The conversion- was it needed?
Information, we all operate with information, knowledge. We take actions with the information that we have, but what about if the information is inaccurate, or missing something, then what?
Paul a man of his word returned to Ephesus (Act19:1; ref: 2Cor1; Mt5:37)
Where we know from 2Cor1 that some did not believe Paul kept his word, the Ephesians knew he did.
We need to be people who keep our word (Lord willing of course) - Makes me think of (Mt5:37)
*Scripture below not on screen, but is on outline
37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.
Paul finds some disciples there (Act19:1, 7)
Normally you see Paul when he gets to a town go to the synagogue but here there is no mention of that at this point, but we we do know if he finds some disciples.
Question: A subjective question, how did Paul know they were disciples?
There had to be something about the place they were (maybe the synagogue) or something they were doing that would make Paul believe they were disciples.
Paul discovers “whose” disciples they are (Act19:2-3; Ref: Act8:14-17; Rom1:11; 2Tim1:6)
Question: Another subjected, or deductive question, why do you think Paul asked the question in (v.2)?
2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
The question can be coupled with what you read in (Act8:14-17); could it be Paul was asking about the miraculous available from the Holy Spirit that he did not see in the Ephesians?
14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.
16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.
Now the reason I say that is we need to keep in context and press on more. It would seem Paul wanted to impart of them spiritual gifts like his desire for like he wanted for the Romans (Rom1:11)
11 For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established;
He must have had the assumption they were baptized into Christ Jesus but now his question is very pointed in (v.3)
3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
Into what, do you notice that term in the Greek it is: Eis to Onima which means “in the name of or in the authority of; in the possession of”
The question is couched in who do you belong to, who were you baptized into?
So their answer brought about another statement to them
4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
Question: What was the purpose of John’s baptism according to (Act19:4)? ( ref. Mt3:11; Act2:38; Act18:24-25)
It was for repentance
Even John’s teaching said they needed to believe in the One who would come after him. Look at this
11 “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
So they were baptized for repentance with the information that they had. But they could not have been baptized into the name (under the authority of) Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or as some may say in Jesus name.
38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Paul inquired about their baptism and he learns that is was into John for repentence, and that they did not even know there was a holy Spirit (v.2)
Could they have been converts of Apollos prior to Him having the more accurate information (Act18:24-25)?
5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Question: What did the 12 men do after hearing in (Act19:5)?
They were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
Now this is the baptism as commanded by Jesus in Mt28:19 and Mk16:16, also noted in Act22:16. . . the results after having the right information and making the right response look again at (vv.6-7)
6 And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
Questin: In (Act19:6-7) with Apostolic authority Paul laid hands on them and imparted spiritual gifts on them, what were they?
Speaking in tongues and prophesy.
Again this is similar of what we have seen with the Corinthians (1Cor12:10). So now may we look at our last point for tonight?
Re-baptism?
Re-baptism?
Appropriate information should generate an appropriate response. The Ephesians had the right heart but some wrong applicable information, can people today too?
Observations:
They had been baptized before, but it was missing/lacking something.
Even though it was by immersion (only biblical method)
Even though It was for remission of sins (Mk1:4)
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
It was not in the name of Jesus (Act2:38, 10:48, 19:5; Mt28:19)
Here are a couple of associated scriptures
48 And he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay on for a few days.
And another:
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
So, again as a reminder this is baptism into the authority of, by the authority of, into the possession of Jesus. Which is a baptism into the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as commanded.
Because they were missing an essential element “re-baptism” was necessary.
(Transition) So, re-baptism necessity? Let’s go a little further into this now.
Re-baptism?
Re-baptism?
Do you know people who have chosen to be “re-baptized” before? Maybe do to lack of understanding or maybe a lack of commitment to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I want us to focus on when it is appropriate, necessary scriptually speaking.
Essential elements of biblical Baptism:
On your outline you have some things, I will not go over every scripture but they are noted in your outline so that you can be a good Berean and check it out to see if it is true.
Mode: Immersion (Rom6:3; Col2:12)
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Authority: In the name of Christ (Act19:5)
I gave you a couple of other scriptures about Jesus name, here is another one to add
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Purpose: Remission of sins (Act22:16; Act2:38)
16 ‘Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’
Let me pause just for a moment; (expand on calling on His name)
Subject: Repentant believer (Act8:37; Mk16:16)
37 And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
So, when one of the essential elements were missing, lacking, “re-baptism” was in order.
In our passage the proper authority was missing (Act19:1-5), even when the mode (immersion) the purpose (Remission of sins) and the subject (penitent believer)
Some would seem appropriate if:
If were baptized by sprinkling or pouring
If under any other name but Jesus
If as a public profession/confession of faith
If not as a penitent believer
If under the pressure of someone
something to consider, if someone is “re-baptized” because an essential element was missing, it is not really a re-baptism, it is baptism as described and commanded in the Bible.
An important point to make too. If you are a baptized repentant believer who is walking in the light (see 1Jn1:7) you have been clothed with Christ in baptism (Gal3:27; ref: Act8:22; 1Jn1:9)
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
To you there is no need to be re-baptized again. Now repentance and prayer are in order (Act8:22; 1Jn1:9)
22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.
and what john had to say, what John promised because John was confident of the fact.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
So, in closing let me say
(Clothed in Christ-1 picture inserted here)
Religious people need saving too! Some may claim Christianity, to be a disciple but without being in Christ and clothed in Christ you are not truly His disciple. Be sure you have been baptized by the right mode, under the right authority for the right purpose being the right subject.
Are you clothed and secure in Christ Jesus? (prayer) (Exit)